


Allergy

by boredomsMuse



Category: Homestuck
Genre: AU, Blood, Gorey thing, M/M, Mentioned bullying, Merstuck, Moving, Secrets, Violence, cute fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-27
Updated: 2016-05-11
Packaged: 2018-05-23 12:41:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 22
Words: 34,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6116785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boredomsMuse/pseuds/boredomsMuse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Karkat Vantas is weird.  Being allergic to salt water is just one of his weird traits.  Constantly moving is another.  </p><p>Despite his own weirdness, he's never really questioned any of it.  That all changes when he meets a boy with blue eyes who asks him about a fight.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sky Blue

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, I know I have unfinished work but like, then i got this cool idea

Never once in your life have you so much as dipped a finger in the giant mass that is the ocean.  It’ll kill you, or so your father’s told you from birth.  A deadly salt water allergy.  You don’t understand how it works, you don’t care.  You aren’t going to risk your life because you think it’s weird. 

 

Still, you’ve been drawn to the ocean all your life.  You’ll never touch it, you’re terrified of it, but you’ll seat on the sand and rocks just out of touch.  You’ll find any excuse to go.  A swelling eye isn’t the happiest of reasons to be hiding in the little cave you found when you moved in, but hey, any reason.  It’s not like you wanted to go back to class, but your dad would ask questions if you went home now.  You really don’t want to deal with that. 

 

Plus, the cave is nice and cool, the perfect mix of sand with rocks, some which are lining where ocean meets shore.  There’s two entrances, one that leads to small beach and one that leads the water in.  It’s feels like the eye of the storm.  With a sigh you rest your head on the smooth wall behind you.

 

It’ll be at least 3 more weeks until your dad says you’re moving again, maybe more if you’re unlucky.  The point is that you’ll move soon and never see those fuckers again.  You’ll meet new fuckers who will stare at you with your white hair and red eyes and ask you why you’re white when your dad’s not.  And then mock you again when you stay away from water.  And probably find something else to mock you about.  You’re weird, you know that, but you don’t need them reminding you of that.  When they do you tend to get pissed and when you start to insult back you tend to get punched in the face.

 

You touch the bruise on your eye and wince.  Maybe if you’re lucky your Dad will move a week early.

 

You’re never lucky.

 

Your eyes slip shut and you almost think you might fall asleep until the lullaby of the water is interrupted by a voice.

 

“How does the other guy look?”  With a groan you open your eyes and almost freeze when you meet the eyes that were as blue as the sky and a grinning overbite, features framed by black hair. 

 

“Fucker got away without so much as a bruised fucking ego.”  You scoff, quickly looking away from the eyes of this complete stranger that’s resting against rock at the oceans opening of your cave, least you find yourself staring.  You think you planned to scream at him to fuck off.  That was not what you did.

 

He chuckles and its adorable and who the fuck is this random ass, shirtless, kinda chubby (you’d call it baby fat if he didn’t look about your age) who decided to appear at the front of the one safe spot you have?

 

You can’t see passed the middle of his chest, if that.  You think his feet are submerged under water, probably.

 

“Well, make sure you get him next time.”  The kid smiled, as though beating others up was a totally normal thing to encourage someone to do.

 

“Well aren’t you fucking helpful.”  You roll your eyes.  “What are you even doing here?” 

 

“Uh, swimming, duh.”  He rolls his eyes like it was obvious, and you suppose it kind of was.  “You should swim with me.”  He added and your ever present frown deepened.

 

“Can’t.  I’m allergic to seawater.”  You say and you wait for the remarks.

 

“That’s… kinda weird.”  The boy says, a confused and almost upset look on his face. 

 

“Yeah, well it’s not like I get a fucking choice in my allergies asshole.”  You snap, glaring at the guy and making an attempt at getting up.  You’d have to find another perfect spot.

 

“No, wait, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it to be rude.”  He quickly says, moving up the rock and closer to you.  “We don’t have to swim, we can talk just fine here.”  He smiles.  You hesitate but before you know it you’re sitting on the on the edge of the water, talking to him as he sits on that rock.

  

* * *

 

 

When you get home it’s almost dark outside.  You could’ve stayed sitting there chatting with the boy, he says his name is John, all night.  If not for the fact you both had fathers that would ground you for life if you didn’t get home you probably would have to.

 

When you finally make it inside said father's waiting for you. 

 

“We’ve you been Karkat, you missed dinner.”  He asks, clear worry and concern in his voice.  At this you don’t care if he’s concerned where you are, too many years of accidently built up anxieties and resentments.

 

“I was talking to a friend.”  You tell him the truth anyway as you brush past and head towards your room.

 

“Karkat, you know you shouldn’t get-“  You cut him off, you already know this speech.

 

“Attached, I know.  We’ll be gone in a month, we always are.  I got it.”  You finish just before slamming the door to your room and mentally congratulating yourself for watching your language around your father.  You drop yourself onto your bed and think about the boy you’ve only ever met just there and then.  You’re certain you’ve never seen him prior to today, not even out of the corner of your eye.

 

You start to think that, maybe, if you’re lucky, you’ll stay an extra week.

 

You’ve never been lucky.


	2. Vibrant Red

The cave on the secluded beach is your favourite place to get some alone time when your friends are busy, which is becoming a much more frequent event these days.  You didn’t expect a kid with a swollen eye sitting against the wall.  He looked familiar and you knew the second you saw him you should leave.

 

Instead you started talking to him.

 

It wasn’t until you were back home and in bed that you realized what about him was so familiar.  You’d seen him before, just glances out of the corner of your eye.  Never in the same town twice.  Despite the answer to your mystery, the next day you went back, and the day after that.

 

You’d be lying if you didn’t think he was cute, with a ridiculous mop of almost white hair and vibrant red eyes.  He almost reminded you of Dave, but then that started being weird so you decided they looked nothing alike.  You didn’t keep going back because he was cute though, you just liked talking to this little ball of an angry kitten that liked to get into fights.

 

You think he gets more bruised every time you see him.  You’re tempted to ask, but you decide it’s only been a week since you met and you probably shouldn’t outside that first day.  Until one day, the 7th day you’ve known him, when he limps into the cave and drops down none to gracefully.

 

“Karkat what happened?”  You ask, leaning up on the rock trying to get a better view.

 

“Another fucking fight.  It’s nothing.”  He shrugs you off. 

 

“You were limping and wincing.”  You frown.

 

“So?  I’ve had worse, its fucking nothing asshole.  Even if it was something, which it’s fucking not, you couldn’t fucking help do forget about it.”  He snaps at you.  He’s not right though, and he’s lying about it being nothing. 

 

He said he had an allergy to salt water but you wonder if it’ll count.  Probably not, right?

 

“Have I grown an extra fucking head that I’m not aware of?”  He glares and you realize you were staring.

 

“What?  No, just looks like you broke your ankle and you’re pretending you didn’t.”  You reply, meeting his eyes.  His move to wall.  He’s never able to meet your eyes for long.

 

“I’m fine John.”  He says firmly, if you were anyone else and if he was anyone else that tone would probably make you shut up.

 

“Close your eyes for a second.”  You say after a moment of hesitation because you’re you and he’s him.  His eyes meet yours for a second, a look of confusion clear.  You grin at him and he sighs before rolling his eyes and closing them. 

 

You hesitate a moment before you quietly swim over.  You take a deep breath and lift your hand, holding Karkat’s injured ankle.  You should’ve guess he’d open his eyes with a wince, no doubt a curse on his lips before he actually sees you.  You ignore his reaction in favour of healing his ankle.  It’s not hard to do, even though it’s a body part you’ve never healed before.  While you’re at it you heal as much of his other injuries as you can, focusing on the worst stuff instead of the bruises.  Life magic isn’t your type of magic, you can only do so much before you tire yourself out. 

 

“John.”  You pull away when you’ve done all you can, not meeting his eyes.

 

“I told you to keep your eyes closed.”  You try to joke but it’s not very humorous and you know it. 

 

“Is that, that’s no, fucking, what the fuck.”  He’s confused, you’re not surprised.  You gulp lightly, turning to leave.

 

“I’ll go.”  You tell him, heading towards the ocean side exit.

 

“Don’t you fucking dare nooksniffer.”  He snaps, though there’s more panic than anger in his tone.  “Get the fuck back here and explain why the hell my foot feels like some prick didn’t just forcefully twist it.”

 

“That’s what you’re worrying over?”  You grin, turning back to him.

 

“Yeah, I don’t give a fuck about you.”  He says.  You swim up to the shore. 

 

“How about you tell me what the hell happened first.”  You offer, leaning with your arms on the shore.  He hesitates a moment.

 

“I fucked up and made a joke and some fuckers at school decided to beat me up for it.”  He eventually tells you.

 

“My sister uses Life magic, she taught me as much as she could.”  You tell him, trying to keep the frown off of your face as you wonder about if you know any schools near water here.

 

“Kinda fucking vague.”  Karkat makes no attempts not to frown.

 

“Says you.”  You chuckle. 

 

“This is why you were behind that fucking rock right?”  He asks, eyes trailing down below your waist.

 

“Yep, not actually meant to let humans know we exist.  So, could you not tell anyone about this please?”  You ask, a little nervously.

 

“Who the fuck am I going to tell?  I’m already enough of a freak, I don’t need people thinking I’m insane too.”  He rolls his eyes like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.  You grin up at him.  You both go back to the easy talking you’ve settled yourself into over the week.  When you leave you can’t keep the grin off of your face as you swim back into the depths of the ocean.  You’re dead if anyone finds out, but Karkat knows your secret and he’s not treating you any different.

 

“Where the hell have you been all day Egbert?”  The blond that looks a lot like Karkat says as he meets outside the city, an almost white eyebrow raised. 

 

“What?  I’m not allowed to have a life outside you?”  You joke, poking your tongue out at him as you swim past.

 

“Nah, I am your personal body guard and all, shit means I am your life.”  He shrugs, falling into line next to you.

 

“Yes Dave, you are my life, the only reason my gills breath and my tail moves, it’s all for you.”  You say overdramatically.

 

“Damn straight.”  He nods like he’s the coolest shit ever before you burst out laughing as he escorts you back to the castle.

 

Karkat was okay with seeing the blue tail you have in place of legs like him but you wonder if he’d still treat you the same if he knew you were royalty.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's right: Merstuck


	3. Tomato Red

Your foot doesn’t hurt, not even a little bit.  Actually, you don’t think it’s ever felt so perfectly fine.  You bury your head into your pillow and groan.

 

What the fuck.

 

What the actual fuck.

 

You’re not sure how the hell you managed to stay calm in front of John.  You’re not exactly known for staying calm.  You’d think you were insane if not for the fact that your foot is completely fine right now and it definitely wasn’t before John swam his scaled ass over and healed it.  Does he even have an ass?  You’re not sure if there is one, and if there is you can’t tell where it starts and were it ends.

 

He has a fucking tail.

 

He has a fucking tail and he can heal ankles. 

 

What the fuck.

 

How are you supposed to process this information?

 

You groan into the pillow again.

 

“Karkat?”  You hear your father’s voice on the other side of the door, accompanied by a knock. 

 

“Yeah?”  You reply, moving your head so that it’s not buried in your pillow.

 

“Your brother’s on the phone.”  He tells you and you sigh, getting out of your bed.  You open the door to talk the phone and you try to ignore the way your father looks.  You doubt they spoke for very long before he came to give it for you.  When you talk the phone you close the door and head back to your bed.

 

“Hey Kankri.”  You greet.  It’d be easier to talk to him if your father would give you your own phone, and it would leave that emotion on your father’s face every time his elder son calls.

 

“Good evening Karkat, I do hope I’m not interrupting any homework or any sort of event.”  He greets and you roll your eyes.

 

“Of course you’re fucking not.”  You tell him.  “How are you?”

 

“Please do watch your language.”  He scolds but you ignore it.  “I am good, thank you for asking.  Cronus and I managed to acquire the house we’ve been looking for, it has a nice view of the beach as he wanted and its language enough for myself to have to a study as well.”

 

“That was the place near Sollux’s place, right?”  You check.  Since he got his degree he’s been looking for a place for him and Cronus to live and you remember that being the house they wanted the most out of the places they were looking for.

 

“That is the one.  Its quiet pleasant.  I’ve been planning on checking in with Sollux and his brother but I’m afraid I haven’t had the chance.  We only moved in today after all, and it was quite the struggle to move all our boxes into the house.”   You flinch at the mention of Mituna and wonder if you should tell Kankri.  You suppose he’ll find out on his own soon enough anyway.

 

Maybe you should tell him about John.

 

“Thanks.  He’s a fuc- He’s an idiot who doesn’t like to take care of himself.  For all I know he’s buried his sorry ass under a mountain of trash without even fucking realizing it.”  You catch yourself swearing once but the attempt quickly goes out the window, it always does.

 

“We’ll make sure he hasn’t, and help him if he has.”  Kankri assures you.  “How have you been Karkat?”  You sigh. 

 

You should tell him. 

 

Then again, you’re brother’s a psychologist.  He’s possibly not the best person to tell about seeing mythical creatures with healing powers.

 

“The usual I guess.”  You say.  “We’ve moved to god knows were in a town of fucking pricks, but hey, we’ll be gone soon anyway so who gives a fuck if school sucks?” 

 

“You could always tell Father if you’re having issues.”  Kankri offers and you chuckle a bit.

 

“Really?  You won’t even fucking talk to Dad and you’re telling me too?  You literally ran the fucking second you got the chance and I fucking get it, moving sucks, but still, you cut him out and you’re telling me to go to him for help.”  You roll your eyes.

 

“I did not mean to upset you but the suggestion.  I simply though that, with Dad’s addiction to never stay in the same place for too long you might be able to leave sooner if you are having trouble in the town.”  He says.

 

“That’s kinda a problem Kanny, I don’t actually want to leave soon.”  You sigh.

 

“I understand, I too did not want to move more than necessary but-“  You cut him off quickly before he can begin his lecture.

 

“No, I mean… fuck, I met someone Kankri and he’s a fucking pain in the ass and can’t keep his nose out of other people’s business but, he’s pretty fucking cool and I… well, I kinda fucking… I’m not looking forward to leaving to leaving him when we move.”  You admit to him and he lets a soft ‘ah’ and you should get a fucking award because you’ve managed to make Kankri quiet for a minute or two.

 

“You could give him your email or skype?”  He offers for you.

 

“I don’t think that’ll work.”  You tell him, chuckling a little to yourself at the idea that it would when he leaves underwater.

 

“You’ll be able to leave in a little less than a year Karkat, you can come back.”  He offers and you sigh.

 

“Maybe.”  You mumble, burying your face into the pillow.  You hear a mumbled voice in the background and Kankri reply telling him that it’s you.  You hear a shout of ‘hey karkat’ and then your brother complaining and the voice chuckling.  “Tell him I said hi fuckface.”  You tell Kankri after moving your face from the pillows depths again.

 

“I will not call my husband such an insult Karkat.”  He huffs, you feel him take a breath to continue and then hear him yelp as the phone moves.

 

“Wvhatcha call me shortstuff?”  There’s no cruelty behind his voice, rather amusement.  You can hear Kankri in the background.

 

“Fuckface.  So you guys finally made it official?”  You smile a bit.  Despite the other dramas, you’re happy your brothers making a life he enjoys, god knows that everything was a mess when he still lived with you. 

 

“Yep, ya officially talkin’ ta Cronus Vantas, and wve’re officially related.  I knowv, it’s an honour for ya.”  You can hear the cocky grin in his tone.

 

“You fucking wish.”  You scoff. 

 

“Wvhat I wvish is that ya’d let kanny and I continue to celebrate our honey moon by christenin’ our newv home.”  He hums.  You’re not sure what noise Kankri just made but it was clearly in distress, you’re sure his face is tomato red.

 

“I did not need to fucking know that.”  You reply, voice monotone.  “Have fun, and spare me the fucking details of your christen.” 

 

“Nice wvordin’ there, later Kar.”  He chuckles, handing the phone over.

 

“I apologize for Cronus’ rather inappropriate comment.  It was completely uncalled for and I-“  Kankri begins speaking the moment he’s given the phone.

 

“It’s fine Kankri.”  You stress.  “I’m heading to bed anyway, night Kankri.” 

 

“Good night Karkat, I hope you sleep well.”  Kankri says after a moment.  You hang up the phone and head to give it to your dad.  You’re not surprised to find him in the kitchen.  It’s the furthest room from yours and while you’re sure he’d love to listen to your end of the conversions with Kankri you know he’d never dare invade your privacy like that.  You hand him the phone.

 

“Anything exciting?”  He asks and you sigh.  You know it’s not fair to leave him in the dark, but it’s Kankri’s choice.

 

“Nah.  Night dad.”  You shrug, turning back to your room. 

 

“Good night Karkat.”  He sighs, giving you a smile that you know is forced.  He looks pretty tired. 

 

You don’t head to sleep.  Rather you get your laptop out and hack your neighbour’s internet.  You start finding out all you can about mermaids.  When the search doesn’t come up with anything serious you give up, messaging Sollux.  He doesn’t respond so you assume he’s coding, he’s sleeping habits are as bad as yours.  You sigh and go back to freaking out over John until you manage to get a few hours sleep.


	4. Mustard Yellow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to take this moment to really thank everyone for the comments, they're awesome, and everyone leaving them and everyone reading is awesome and just really grateful guys!!!!

All your life you’ve been scared of the ocean.  Until you were 13 you refused to go near it, even now you don’t like touching the water.  Your father and your brother had no such issues with the deep mass of uncertainty that makes up most of the planet.  That was probably a good thing too, considering your dad was a fisherman and your brother helped him on his boat.  You, on the other hand, stayed home and didn’t go with them on their trips.

 

It wasn’t weird to spend a night alone.

 

It was weird to spend a week alone.

 

It was weird to not be able to get a hold of them on the radio.

 

It was weird to have them both declared missing when you hadn’t heard from them in a month. 

 

It was weird to have to ask Silas to become your legal guardian.

 

It was weird to have to lie to him about Mituna so that you wouldn’t have to move.

 

It was weird to sit on the edge of the pier for the first time in your life and watch were the ocean met the sky in hopes that you’d see their boat coming closer.

 

It was weird to still be sitting on the edge of the pier after 4 years with that same hope.

 

Today was no different than yesterday or the day before that or the week before that.  No boat appeared on the horizon, no one came and told him his family had come home.  With a sigh, you get up and head towards the small house that doesn’t feel like a home now that it’s empty. 

 

It’s a mess inside, you don’t remember the last time you cleaned up.  There are dishes from who knows when in the sink and stuff all over the lounge room floor.  Your room’s no better.  The only rooms not covered in mess are behind the doors you haven’t opened in years.  You just can’t go in those rooms without breaking down.

 

You have no problem going into your own room and never leaving though.  You graduated last year, you’d skipped a year a while back, so you didn’t have to go to class.  You could work online too so you didn’t have to leave for that either.  The only times you leave are for your morning works to the pier where you sit until an under after the time they said they’d be back four years ago.  You sit down and pull up your latest coding project.  You get only a line in before you hear a knock at the door. 

 

No one comes to visit you anymore.  They haven’t in over a year.  You can’t think of who the hell would be at your door.  Whoever they are knock again.  You hesitate a moment before sighing and getting up.

 

You open the door for Kankri and your heart stops.  He cannot be here.  If he’s here he’ll know Mituna’s not.  He’ll tell his dad.  Silas will realize you’re home alone, have been since you were 13, and he’ll start dragging you around the country with him and Karkat. 

 

You can’t not be here when your dad and Mituna get home.  They’re coming home.  They have to be. 

 

Kankri can’t be here.

 

You’re on the ground, barely able to breath, before Kankri can so much as greet you.  You’re not unfamiliar with panic attacks but this is one of the worth you’ve had in a while.  You _have_ to be here when your family gets home.  They _have_ to come home.  They have to. 

 

“Breath kid.”  Someone’s talking to you and rubbing your back.  They sound familiar but they’re not Kankri, they walk you through breathing techniques and just keep talking, helping, until you’re breathing again and the dizziness has faded.  Once it does you register that it’s a pale guy with black hair.  He looks like an attractive asshole.

 

“Are you alright Sollux?  I apologize if you’ve startled you or done something to trigger you, we should have called ahead.”  That’s Kankri, talking from the other side of you.

 

“Let’s getcha to a couch.”  The other person say, ignoring the person you know for the moment.  He helps you too the couch that’s in eyesight from the door.  You think they shut the door.  You sit down and breathe for a few more minutes. 

 

“You can’t tell Thilath.”  It’s the first phrase that makes it out of your mouth.  To your left, Kankri frowns.

 

“What can’t I tell him?”  He asks.

 

“You can’t tell him Mituna ithn’t here.”  You mumble.  Kankri frowns a little deeper.

 

“What do you mean he isn’t here?”  He asks. 

 

“He wath with Dad.”  You explain, shutting your multi coloured eyes and hoping he’d just put two and two together.

 

“But… oh Sollux… have you been alone this whole time?”  You nod rather than answer verbally.  “But you told Father they just won’t let Mituna take custody of you due to his mental state.” 

 

“I didn’t want to move around.”  He nods at that, sighing softly.

 

“I won’t tell him, don’t worry.”  Kankri promises.  “Although, you mustn’t tell him that I’m here either… or that I’m with Cronus.”

 

“I don’t knowv wvhy ya so ashamed of me babe.”  The other person pretends to be wounded next to you.

 

“You know it’s not that Cronus.  I simply do not my trust that my father would be open to the idea, and I have kept conversion between him and me to a minimum.  I do not believe he should know of my marital status.”  Kankri mumbles.

 

“I’m kiddin’ doll.”  Cronus assures him.

 

“Okay, to avoid that getting awkward for me.”  You say, turning to Kankri.  “Deal.”  He smiles back and nods. 

 

“It is a deal.  Now, how about you go for a shower.  Not to be rude, or to imply that you do need a shower.  You simply don’t look like you’ve had one in a while.  Not to say be rude either, or to imply anything with that statement.  We will clean up your dishes for you.  I promise you Sollux, you will not be alone from this moment on.”  He doesn’t wait for you to reply, rather he heads to the kitchen.  You’re froze for a moment and when you hear the person next to you, Cronus you assume, chuckle you’re sure he can hear your brain trying to process what Kankri just said. 

 

“I’d just go along with it Sollux, no stoppin’ ‘im, ya know?”  He’s got a look on his face that you think fits into one of the shitty movies Karkat loves.  He helps you up and ruffles your hair that you started dying mustard blond after you lost Mituna as you head towards the bathroom.  First you duck into your room to send Karkat a message on skype.

 

_you owe me twenty buck2_

 

When you check back after your shower you see he’s replied.

 

_YOU’RE NEVER FUCKING GETTING IT ASSHAT._


	5. Seahorse Purple

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we introduce more characters  
> There is so much in this chapter that no ones going to understand until like ages down the track.

The secluded, private cove is your favourite place to get some alone time, away from the pressures your brother left you.  At least it had been until you’d found the secluded, run down pier.  Yet you hadn’t been able to visit either location for a few moon cycles.  Between your tasks at home and the task you’ve promised to complete you hadn’t had the chance until now.

 

As you swam towards it you wondered if the blond would even still be waiting the way he was when you’d met.

 

* * *

 

_The more you’d wriggled in the fishing net the tighter it’d gotten.  It was digging into your tails and you were completely tangled.  As you tried to get away you heard a laugh and your purple eyes snapped up to glare at shaded ones._

_“Wwhat are ya laughin’ at?” You growled at the boy sitting on the fishing attachment to the pier that barely say above the water._

_“You, obviouthly.”  The blond boy sitting on the pier.  “If you didn’t thwim in that dumbath thuit you wouldn’t’ve got caught in a net.”  The boy mocked and you rolled your eyes._

_“Humans.”  You scoffed under your breath.  “Can’t ya just fuckin’ help me?”  You snapped._

_“Thure, if you come over here.  I’m not getting in that water.”  He shrugged.  You growled but managed to move close enough that he could pull you over.  When he did you saw his eyes widen behind different coloured glass lenses.  “What the hell ith that made of?”  He muttered._

_“Its real, ovvbiously.”  You rolled your eyes._

_“Yeah right.”  He said, scoffing, though he didn’t seem to believe himself.  After a moment he started to get you out of the fishing net, pulling the rope out of the water once you were freed.  The whole time he stared at the purple scales._

_“Finally.”  You relaxed._

_“What do we thay?”  The boy mocked you._

_“Wwe say your lisp is annoyin’.”  You responded._

_“Actually ‘thankth’ ith the word we thay.”  The boy rolled his eyes, you think, and finally took them off of your tail._

_“Wwhy wwould I thank you?”  You scoffed._

_“Uh, becauthe I jutht thaved your apparently scale-y ath.”  He responded._

_“So?  I’m royalty, it’s a givven that you’d help me.”  You say, puffing your chest out proudly only to glare at him when he laughed._

_“Thure you are.”  He said._

_“You knoww, for a human, you’re takin this pretty well.”  You commented after a moment._

_“Yep, I’ve clearly gone insane.  You’re a figment of my imagination.”  He said._

_“I am not!”  You snapped._

_“Then who are you fithhboy?”  He said, rolling him eyes._

_“Prince Eridan Ampora, heir to one of the three thrones of the Skaia.”  You answered before he’d even thought of the fact you’re not allowed to let humans know you exist, let alone tell them your name._

_“Thure, thure Eridan.”  The boy chuckled.  “And I’m King Thollux, king of the lithp.”  He chuckled._

_“Wwhatevver ‘Thollux’.”  You growled._

 

* * *

 

 

He’s not sitting in the spot on the fishing section of the deck when you arrive and you frown slightly.  You should’ve expected him not to be.  Not even he could’ve been waiting that many years for even family. 

 

You’d already given up before you’d met him.

 

You hope he’s given up, after all, you’d completed that task and it’s hopeless for him to wait. 

 

“ED?”  There’s a surprise and confusion to his voice and you look back to the higher section of the pier and see him looking down at you.

 

“Long time no sea Sol.”  You smile, try to keep the nervousness out of your voice.

 

“Yeah… geez I thought I’d thtopped theeing thingth.”  He jokes and climbs down to the lower platform. 

 

“I am not a figment of your imagination.  Wwhy can’t ya understand that?”  You groan, resting your arms on the platform.

 

“Where’ve you been?”  He asks, sitting down. 

 

“Busy wwith princely shit.”  You answer.

 

“ED, I’m ready to believe you exitht, I can’t picture you a prince.”  He mocks and you glare at him. 

 

“Geez, maybe I should’vve just stayed home.”  You roll your eyes. 

 

“Rude.”  Sollux chuckles he hesitates and you know what he’s going to ask.  “Did you… find them?”  He asks.

 

“No.”  You lie, and you hope he believes you.  You don’t think he needs the truth.  You’re not sure he’d believe it.  “Sorry Sol.”  You mumble when his face drops.

 

“It’s a good thing, right?”  He shrugs.  “Meanth they didn’t drown.” 

 

“Yeah…”  You mumble.  “So… wwhat’vve you been up to these past moon cycles?” 

 

Instead of answering you get into an argument about if months is a better term than moon cycles.  Clearly, you win the argument.

 

“ED, do you want that theahorthe back?”  He asks after getting up again.  You remember the sea horse you’d given him, a purple thing your brother made for you.  It meant a lot, though you’d never told Sollux that.  Inside, you’d given it to him to keep a hold of for while you were gone doing the task he asked of you. 

 

“No.”  You answer.  “I didn’t find them, so you can keep it until I do.”  You say.

 

“You don’t have to let me hold onto it.”  He says, frowning.

 

“If I didn’t wwant ya do I’d tell you ta givve it back.”  You roll your eyes, hand on your hip.  “I’ll sea ya tomorroww Sol.”  You swam away before he noticed the way you were blushing. 

 

That purple seahorse was something your brother had said was supposed to be the token you give to your matesprite.  Technically Sollux wasn’t your matespirte, he didn’t even know the term.  But still, he was the one that you wanted to have that token. 

 

You just hadn’t told him why.

 

* * *

 

Back at home you head into the large castle that had been created after Skaia was formed, only a short time before you were born.  You head towards your fathers study nervously.  You shouldn’t be worried.  There’s nothing to be worried about. 

 

But…

 

“What’s up gubby?”  A girl with fuchsia tail and brown braids says, wrapping her arm around your shoulders as you swim. 

 

“Wwhat do you wwant Meenah?”  You sigh, turning to face the elder.

 

“I want ya to join my team.”  She grins, sharp teeth on display.

 

“Wwhat?”  You ask, starring at her and attempting.

 

“I’m havin’ a popularity contest, right, so like, ya gotta join ma fish school or ya gonna fish yourself with a lot more shores.  Got it buoy?”  She tells you and you roll your eyes.

 

“Wwho is this even against?”  You ask.

 

“Fishka.”  She says.

 

“I vote no one.”  You say almost instantly.

 

“Nuh uh buoy.  Not an option.”  She tsks.

 

“Meenah, really?  More threats.”  Another girl with a blue tail and short blonde hair says, turning the corner.

 

“’Ey, its effective.”  Meenah grins.

 

“Sorry about this Eridan.”  Arenea smiles at you, taking Meenah by the wrist and pulling her away from you.

 

“It’s fine Arenea.”  You huff, glad the blue tail showed up to stop the other but not wanting to tell her that.

 

The girls leave and you head quickly to your fathers study before any other royal families can run into you. 

 

“Good evening Eridan, wvhere’vwe you been all day?”  Your father greets after you knock and enter the room.

 

“Just uh, out for a swwim.”  You lie before quickly changing the topic.  “I… do you mind if I see it father?”  You ask and he sighs.

 

“It’s a foolish wvorry son.”  He says but he gets up and pushes a button.  One of the walls slide open and you see the golden fork that rests in its warded, chained, and hidden home.

 

“I knoww.”  You say, starring at it.  “But I just… havve to be sure sometimes.” 

 

 


	6. Flushed Blue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have changed Meenah's hair colour in the last chapter. She now has brown hair.
> 
> Also lots of exposition/backstory in the start of this chapter

You’re bored.  Incredibly bored.  Classes are boring.

 

“Your highness!”  The shout directed at you makes you jump and you turn to face the teacher again.  “You have to pay attention to this!  It is vital that you know about how you are coming into power, as the first heir of the new system.” 

 

“Yes miss.”  You reply, voice monotone.  She takes it and continues her lesson.

 

“Thank you.  As I was saying.  Skaia was formed after the battle of the Seawitch.  The then Empress of Alternia had attempted to overthrow the neighbouring kingdoms Derse and Prospit.  A small rebellious group, including our current ruling party, managed to defeat her.  While some of these heroes left the kingdoms the elite of the previous thing kingdoms came together to create Skaia, all agreeing that no one person should hold absolute power and thus the three choose to rule together.”

 

“Since then things have changed for all those that were in the previous kingdoms.  Alternia had a different system of romance and birth then the other two and while this method of reproduction was ceased after the final lot of births which included Prince Eridan and Princess Feferi, we have taken on the 4 quadrant romance system.  Prospits much more equal hierarchy has been put in place over the suppressive systems in Alternia and Derse, and Derse’s military system was put in place other Alternia’s restrictive one and Prospits lack of one.  That, of course, is just to name the most noticeable changes.”

 

“You in here are all part of the royal families that govern this great nation, joined together by peace.  When the time comes you will take over your family’s thrones and govern it to success.  But to do that you must all work together, able to compromise and prove loyalty.  Our great rulers are all friends and they show each other…”  The mermaid goes on and on.

 

“Our great kings are totally more than friends.”  Dave whispers in your ear.

 

“What are you talking about Dave?”  You raise an eyebrow at him, interested to hear his gossip

 

“Dude, your dad and my bro are totally banging.”  Dave gives you a deadpan look and you respond with a disgusted face.

 

“Ew.  I don’t even want to think about that.”  You complain.

 

“Are talking castle gossip?”  The blond with a purple tail sitting behind you asks. 

 

“No, Dave’s just grossing me out with thoughts of who my dad is banging.”  You say, still with a disgusted face on.

 

“Oh?  King Egbert and King Striders ‘secret’ relationship?”  The girl checks.

 

“See, Rose knows what I’m talking about.”  Dave says.

 

“Rose, why?”  You groan.  “They don’t have a secret relationship.”

 

“Oh yes, it’s definitely not a well-kept secret.”  Rose comments.  “Much like the act you’re clearly in one, what with all your sneaking off.  You’re acting much like Eridan lately.”  She smirks at you and your face flushes blue, stuttering for a second.

 

“Why are you even here?  You’re not technically a princess.”  You say, changing the subject. 

 

“I’m not?”  You roll your eyes at the faked hurt she gives you.  “I’m to be the royal Seer John, I need to know the kingdoms history.”

 

“Then _perhaps_ you could all pay attention.”  The teacher shouts, making you jump though the two cousins you were talking to remain calm.

 

You spend the rest of the class in silence.

 

* * *

 

 

After class Dave has to go to his knight training and you’re more than happy to wave him off.  He’s your best friend and you love him, platonically, but you doubt he’d approve of your plans for the day.

 

You wouldn’t call it ‘spying’ or ‘stalking’, you just happened to follow a river that happened to pass Karkat’s school and you just happened to swim back home in the same direction as a couple of bullies that were picking on your friend the other day.  Today you wouldn’t call what you’re doing ‘revenge’ just a crueller prank than you’d usually pull.  It’s completely acceptable by mermaid standards. 

 

The closet catfish nearby are usually pretty grumpy, and not very pleasant to talk to.  But, if you know what to offer and you know which catfish to talk to, they can be more than willing to become your partner in crime for a prank. 

 

You ask the catfish to sit hidden in the river and you sit a bit further away.  Karkat’s tormentors are walking past, bragging about how they’ve tormented your friend.  You keep your head underwater and start to sing.  Mermaids can rarely sing above water.  You know Dave can, and you think Eridan’s mentioned his brother can, but you certainly can’t.  Below water, however, you’re enchanting.  It attracts the attention of one of the bullies and they all head towards were you and the catfish are hidden.  When they get close enough the catfish strikes and as they panic you laugh.  You made sure nothing would be permeant, at most a broken bone, but now many they’ll think twice about being cruel.

 

You’re proud of yourself as you head back home, Karkat’s busy tonight so you can’t met up.  You head to the kitchen to grab a snack and find your father placing some mixture in the water heater to bake it. 

 

“Hi dad.”  You greet with a smile.

 

“Good afternoon John.”  He greets.  “You seem quite chipper.”

 

“Yep!  But I can’t tell you why.”  You grin and he raises his eyebrow.

 

“Oh?  Should I be on my fins around you then?”  He asks and you smirk.

 

“Maybe.”  You can’t tell him the truth.  It’s taboo for humans and mermaids to interact, let alone for a mermaid to tell half as much as you’ve told Karkat.

 

The two of you settle into a simple conversion in the kitchen while the cake bakes.  You have servants that could do the baking for him but your dads always enjoyed doing it himself.  Eventually Dave finds you, shortly after the cakes finished.  He grabs a slice and then drags you of, luckily before you can be give one.

 

“So,” he starts and you know that tone.  “Rose says you got yourself a matesprite, wanna tell me bout the looking guy, girl, or other?”

 

“I do not have a matesprite Dave.  Geez.”  You groan.

 

“Then we’ve you been going?”  He asks.

 

“Nowhere, why does it matter?”  You protest.

 

“Because I’m your knight, I have to be by your side like 24/7 minus training time and some family time.”  He tells you.  “Like, we have to be sewn at the hip, which Rose can probably actually make a thing.” 

 

“Dave, I’m just seeing a friend, okay?  No you can’t met them.”  You huff, throwing him a bone and hoping that’ll be enough for him.  It’s not. 

 

“Why not?  The way you’re acting I might think they’re human.”  You know he’s joking, you know he can’t possibly know.  You still tense and now he knows shit.  “Oh my god, John, please tell me this is a dumb prank you can’t actually be dating a human.”

 

“We’re not dating!”  You snap and that was probably not the best response. 

 

“But they’re human, John what if someone finds out?”  Dave’s whispering now, voice hushed and you can see the panic in his eyes behind the shades googles he and his brothers wear.

 

“No one’s going to find out if you don’t tell anyone.”  You say, sighing.

 

“Well of course I’m not going to tell anyone but you still need to stop seeing this person.”  He frets.

 

“But he’s my friend Dave.”  You argue.

 

“But he’s _human_.  You don’t know what his motives for being your friend are.  He could be planning to put you in a tank for all you know.”

 

“He won’t.  He’s not like that.” 

 

“No offensive John, but you’re not always a good judge of character.”

 

“Rude.”  You huff.  “Look, fine, okay, you can met him and make your own judgements on him.  But whatever you say I’m not going to just stop being friends with him.” 

 

“Fine.”  He says, and you can tell he’s not happy with the arrangement. 

 

With a sigh you wonder how you’re going to explain having your own personal body guard to Karkat tomorrow.

 

* * *

 

You convince Dave to stay out of sight until you give the signal, wanting to ease Karkat into the idea of someone else coming to your cove before you force it on him.  You can tell he’s pissed before he even gets there though and you worry many one of the bullies hurt him again.

 

“What the ever loving fuck did you do John?!”  He snaps at you and you frown.

 

“Uh… nothing?”  You say, raising an eyebrow at him.

 

“Oh really?  The guys that have been bullying me since I got here say they heard a voice and walked into the water only to get attacked by a catfish and hearing laughing.  Gee, I wonder who the fuck could have been involved in that.”  He glares.

 

“Oooooh, right, that.”  You chuckle a little.  “It was just a little fun Karkat.” 

 

“Just a little fun?  One of them has a broken leg in 3 places John!”  He snaps.

 

“So?  It’ll heal.  They deserved it anyway.”  You shrug.  “Why are you so worked up about this?”

 

“Because that’s not fucking okay.”  Karkat shouts.  “You can’t just hurt people because they’re assholes, it makes you no better than them.”  You frown at that.

 

“I am better than them.  I didn’t do anything unprovoked, I didn’t do anything that they didn’t deserve, and I didn’t do anything to make myself feel better.  I did it for you because they were being assholes to you.”  You protest, glaring at Karkat.  You don’t even notice he’s on the edge of the rocks.

 

“I didn’t fucking _ask you to_.”  He shouts.

 

“Yeah, that’s enough.”  You hear Dave coming out of his hiding spot.  “I don’t need to hear anymore to know this guys an asshole.”  Karkat jumps at the unfamiliar voice, the unfamiliar mermaid in the water.  He slips on the rocks edge.  He loses his footing.

 

Before you know what’s happening Karkat’s in the ocean water he said he’s allergic to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hehehe  
> cliff hangers


	7. Dread Black

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well the title names took a turn  
> Also yay, 2 updates in one day

All your life you’d never felt at home in the sea.  It was pretty and amazing and if you ever got a moment to yourself it could be quite peaceful.  But it just wasn’t _you_.  You spoke to your moirail about it at the time and he’d offered that maybe it wasn’t the sea you didn’t feel at home in, maybe it was your tail.

 

The more you’d thought about it the more it made sense. 

 

You knew you shouldn’t’ve acted on those words.  You were the heir to the Alternian throne, you had a kingdom to think about.  Besides, if you left you’d never see your family again, your _home_ again.  Not to mention it was going to be painful.

 

Still, you beached yourself.  You laid in to the sun until your tail dried out and the scales faded, leaving two legs joined at the thigh.  You’d used a knife, sharpest you could find, and you’d cut the skin connecting the two legs.  Even with the healing potion you’d ask Feferi for, the wounds still let scars on the inside of your thighs.

 

After that it was rough.  You’d had to adjust to the culture, find clothes, learn to walk, learn to work and pay your way, meet people, etc. etc.  The surface had presented you with challenge after challenge after challenge.

 

Resting as you were now, on your side and starring as the sunset framed the face beneath the mess of black hair of your matesprite, _husband_ you remind yourself, you know it was worth it.  You feel as comfortable in your skin as you’ll ever be, you have a job fixing machines that could never have existed beneath the waves, you have a new (if much smaller) family, and you have the man of your dreams lying next to you with a ring on his finger to tell the whole world he’s yours and you’re his.

 

Everything is perfect.  Everything is turning up Cronus.

 

So why is there a pit of dread in your stomach?  One so bad that you haven’t slept a wink?

 

You think it might be Sollux’s fault.  When you’d checked in on him the next day after meeting him he’d been messing around with a purple seahorse.  It looked familiar but it couldn’t be the same seahorse, not when your brother was a stickler for the rules and wouldn’t dare go to the surface, let alone fall in love with a human.

 

It might, however, be Sollux’s fault for a completely different reason.  It might be Sollux’s fault because now you’ve seen a picture of Sollux’s father you know for a fact that it’s the same Captor, that Kankri’s father is the same Vantas.  You’d spent the years since Kankri introduced himself trying to convince yourself that it was a consequence but now you know for sure.

 

So maybe your dreading telling Kankri.

 

With a sigh you pull yourself out of the bed and leave the bedroom.  There’s still boxes everywhere, after all you only just moved in, but the house is still nice.  You leave a note for Kankri, assuring him you’ll be home soon and you just went for a walk, and then you leave the house in jeans and a shirt.  The morning’s coastal chill doesn’t have anything on being cold blooded in the depths of the ocean so you forgo your leather jacket.

 

You need to know but you’re not sure you want to know.

 

Sollux doesn’t live all that far away from you and you probably spend more time on his doorstep trying to convince yourself to knock than it did getting there.  When you eventually do knock it takes Sollux a bit to open the door.  You’re not surprised, it always takes him forever.

 

“CN?”  He frowns.  “Where’th KN?”  He adds, looking around you.

 

“Not here.”  You admit, taking a deep breath.  “I gotta ask ya ‘bout something.” 

 

“What ith it?”  He’s still frowning and he looks almost nervously.  You certainly feel nervous.

 

“That seahorse you havwe.”  You say after a moment.  “Wvhere’d ya get it?”

 

“Uh… why do you want to know?”  He says, glaring at you.

 

“Wvas is this shortass kid?”  You ignore his question, shuffling your feet a bit.  “Total dork and thinks he’s top of the wvorld?  Has a tail?”  Sollux tenses up and you know you’re right.  “Awvesome, that was all.”  You’re not sure what you should do.  Should you move?  It’s a nice place but If Eridan’s here your dad might come here.  You can’t have that, you’re not exactly in the man’s good books.

 

“Wait.”  Sollux grabs your wrist as you turn to leave.  “How’d you know about ED?”  He asks, confusion clear on his face.

 

“It’s…. a long story.  Just do me a favwour, don’t mention me to Eri.”  You say.  You love your brother and you’ve really missed him but he can’t know you’re here you can’t risk him telling his father.  “And treat ‘im right.”  You add.

 

“’Treat him right’?  What does that mean?”  Sollux says, face flushing red at the comment.  You raise an eye before chuckling.

 

“He didn’t tell ya?  That token he gavwe ya means he’s got a crush on ya.”  You inform and Sollux stutters.   “I gotta head.  Later Sol.”  You give him a wave and turn to leave.

 

You still feel the dread in your stomach.  But why?  Sollux won’t tell Eridan.  There’s no reason to be dread knowing about Captor and Vantas as long as you don’t tell Kankri.  Yeah, there’s nothing to be dreading.  You should just head home, everything’s fine.

 

Despite lying to yourself, the dread black feeling still remains.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hehehe  
> this is not what you readers wanted, i know  
> i'm an asshole


	8. Shock White

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And then there was three  
> I am shitting here on my friends bed writing chapter after chapter and unloading them instantly tbh

_Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck_

Holy shit.

 

Hooooooooly shit.

 

You’re going to die, you’re going to die, you’re…

 

Completely fine.

 

You just feel into the world’s largest supply of the one thing you’ve been told all your life you’re deadly allergic to and you’re completely and utterly fine.

 

“What the fuck?”  You frown, attempting to stand.  There’s a swallow section of beach near the edge but you were arguing on the side that leads to a deep drop.

 

“Karkat!  Karkat, oh geez, are you alright?”  You look over to John, he’s freaking out. 

 

“I’m… fine?”  You frown.  “I’m fucking fine.  Dad said it’d be instant.  ‘Stay away from the water Karkat or it’ll burn, if you ever swim in the ocean it’ll kill you almost instantly’.”  You say, you’re voice raising as you repeat the apparent bullshit he feed you all your life.

 

“Is it burning?  Are you dying?”  John asks, still clearly panicking.

 

“No John.  No.  It’s not burning, it’s fucking cold I guess but that’s _it_.”  You snap, you’re not mad at him anymore, but it’s not like your father is here to yell at.

 

“So…. Can I get an explanation thanks?”  The person who called you an asshole says.  He’s pale until the contrasting bright red scales around his waist.

 

“I’m allergic to salt water.”  You say.  “Or at least that’s what I’ve been told all my fucking life.”  You snap, splashing loudly against the surface of the water in an attempt to clear your anger if just a little.

 

“Why would your dad have lied?”  John frowns. 

 

“How the fuck should I know?”  You ask.  “This is, this is, I don’t even fucking know what this is John!  What a dumb ass thing to lie about!”  You shout.

 

“Can you stop taking your anger out on John here?  He’s not the one that lied to you.”  The stranger frowns, swimming to John’s side.

 

“No, but he did put a couple of people in hospital yesterday.”  You glare.

 

“Yeah, okay, my bad, I didn’t think it was a big deal, swift justice is a thing back home.”  John sighs.

 

“You sound like Rezi.”  The blond comments.  John shouts him a glare.

 

“Never compare me to her.  Ever.”  He says before turning back to you.  “But hey, Karkat, this isn’t such a bad thing, I mean, now we can swim and hang out more?”  He offers.

 

“Yes, because being lied to my whole life is not a big fucking deal, thank you for that useful piece of information right there.”  You growl.

 

“I’m not saying it’s not.  It’s a really shitty thing but, it’s not bad right now?  Like, theres a bright side.”  He says.

 

“Geez, king of the prep talk right here.”  The blond teases before you can.

 

“Shut up Dave.”  John huffs.  “I’m just saying lets go for a swim or something and try to take your mind off of this Karkat.  Geez.”  He groans.

 

“That’s a cool idea and all, but I still don’t trust this kid to be anyway near you.  And since I’m your knight in shining scales, that means he aint going near you.”  The blond, Dave apparently, says.

 

“And why the fuck don’t you trust me?”  You glare at him.

 

“Well, you were just screaming at John two seconds ago.”  Dave shrugs.

 

“Did you miss the fucking part about him _putting people in hospital_?”  You snap.

 

“Guys.”  John calls your attention.  “Can we put all that behind us and just start your meeting over?”  He asks.  You hesitate but you really don’t want to deal with more shit then you currently are so you sigh and nod.

 

“Fine.”  You huff the same time Dave makes some noise of agreement.

 

“Thank you.  Karkat, this is my moirail Dave.  Dave, this is my friend Karkat.  Now, can you please tolerate each other because I want to spend the rest of the day cheering up Karkat since he went through some shit today?”  He introduces.

 

“Fine.”  Dave groans.

 

“The fucks a ‘moirail’?”  You ask.

 

John successfully manages to distract you from your father’s deceit, describing the quadrant system mermaids have.  You decide it sounds like a much better system than your singular relationship one, though Dave’s sarcastic comments don’t help.

 

When you finally start to head home it’s late and dark.  Dave’s going on to John about something he has to go do and while you still think the guys an asshole he’s not as bad as you thought.  They both say their farewells at the cove and all the anger you had when you feel into the water has changed into a morphed dread. 

 

What are you going to tell your father about how you found out?  What’s your father going to say?  Why’s he been lying to you all your life?

 

It’s not like you can pretend you don’t know, you’re drenched after all.

 

With a deep breath you head home.  The second you enter you hear your father’s voice.

 

“Pack your things Karkat.  We’re leaving tonight.”  He tells you and you frown.  Normally he gives you more warning than this.

 

“Leaving?  But, dad, I don’t… I don’t want to.”  You tell him, still frowning.  He walks in, placing bags by the door.

 

“Karkat, you know we can’t stay in one place too long.”  He says.

 

“Why not?”  You snap.

 

“Because- why are you wet?”  He asks, suddenly tense as he stays at you.  You clench your hands into fists by your side.

 

“Why did you lie to me?”  You ask, the dreads gone away again, covered by the anger.  You don’t want to move anymore.  You don’t want to not know why anymore.

 

“Karkat I…”  He starts and you know that tone, that’s his bullshit tone. 

 

“Don’t!”  You snap.  “Just tell me the truth Dad!  I have a right to fucking know why we move all the time, I have a right to fucking know why you’ve lied to me my whole fucking life!”  You shout and he’s silent for a moment before he sighs.

 

“Karkat, the ocean isn’t safe.”  He starts.  “There’s things you wouldn’t understand at play.”

 

“Then explain it to me!”  You glare.  “Enough excuses dad!”

 

“You wouldn’t understand Karkat, just drop it.  Alright?  Go to your room and pack.”  Your dad shouts back and you’re surprised, he’s almost never raises his voice at you.  You glare at him as you storm to your room, slamming the door.  You hear him sigh and go back to packing.  After a moment’s hesitation you pack a bag of clothes and other things you need, changing out of your drenched ones.  Once you’ve packed your bag you grab your wallet and you jump out the window.

 

You’re sick of lies, you’re sick of always moving.  You grab the next bus heading the way you want and you don’t say a word, sitting in the back and reading a book.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mwhahahaha  
> Another cliff hanger


	9. Blood Rainbow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You get an update, and you get an update, everyone gets an update.

All your life you’ve been cautious.  Of the sea, of the people around you, of everything.  Your friends humoured your paranoia, helped you feel safe.  And then they were gone and your paranoia got worse.  You couldn’t leave your sons alone for a second, and it drove your eldest away.  Now you only have Karkat and you have to protect him.  You can’t let anything bad happen to him.

 

So you don’t change.  You continue to move, continue to lie, and continue to shield him from everything you know. 

 

There’s no way a catfish would be here, no way unless some mermaid whispered in its ear and the state of those poor boys reeks of a warning, reeks of cruelty, reeks of everything you swore to protect your boys from.

 

So it’s time to move.  You pack your bags and start to repack the few things you unpacked during your stay.

 

When Karkat gets home you tell him to pack.  You didn’t even notice he was wet for a few minutes and when he screams at you you know that everything’s ruined.

 

You can’t say you’re surprised when you find his room empty.  You’re heartbroken, however, and you sit on a chair in the kitchen with a drink, staring at the wall.

 

You don’t understand how you got here.  Nothing was meant to try out this way.  Not you, not your boys, not your family.  Now you have no idea where your sons are.

 

A sense of dread so harsh you almost throw up washes over you.  While you know your nerves are bad you know this dread has nothing to do with our distant sons.  Instantly you stand and rush to your door, rush to the ocean. 

 

You stare at the ocean and for a second the water is the colour of blood.  Of rainbow blood.  You hear laughing in your ears and you scream, covering your ears and closing your eyes tight until the vision fades and you’re left alone on the shore.  You try to stand up but before you know it everything goes black.

 

* * *

 

 

You wake up on the sand and it’s bright outside but you’re not sure what the time is.  The second you recall the blood rainbow from the night before you race back to your house and dial a number into the phone, hoping said number hasn’t changed over the years.

 

“Who is this?”  The person asks and you’re not surprised they can’t guess.  You don’t call often and you constantly change your number.

 

“Porrim, its Silas.”  You tell her, trying to stay calm despite feeling anything but.  She can see right through that. 

 

“Silas?  What’s wrong?”  She asks and you can hear the frown on her lips.  You bit yours genteelly, taking a deep breath.

 

“I had a vision.”  You tell her.  “I had a vision and it wasn’t a good one.  Karkat’s… Karkat’s run away and Kankri probably won’t pick up if I answer.  I need you to warn him to stay away from the ocean, that’s probably where Karkat is going as well.”

 

“Silas slow down.”  Porrim’s much better at staying calm about this then you are.  “What was the vision about?” 

 

“The ocean was full of blood and I could… I, I heard _her_ voice Porrim.  It’s happening, everything I feared is happening and my boys aren’t within sight.  They’ve both been in the water now, it’ll cling to them and she’ll know who they are.”  You were still speaking in rushed sentences but you were trying to talk slower.

 

“Not unless they’ve bleed into the water Silas.”  Porrim corrects.  “They’ll be fine.  You need to give Kankri a call, alright?  And you need to tell him the truth Silas.  If not over the phone then you need to promise him the truth and you need to tell him, and Karkat, in person.  You can’t protect them from this forever.  Clearly they’ve started to figure it out themselves.  They need to hear it from you.”  You take a few deep breaths as she speaks.

 

“You’re right Porrim.”  You say softly, slowly.

 

“I know.”  She hums in response and you chuckle lightly.

 

“You remind me of mum sometimes.”  You tell her.

 

“Well one of us has to keep a calm head.”  She teases. 

 

“Have you told Kanaya?”  You ask and she hesitates.  “Damara?”

 

“Damara I’ve told everything to.”  She says.  “A relationship of secrets is not one I desired to have.  Kanaya I haven’t seen the need.  But I haven’t demanded she uproot her life every month, nor have I lied to her.”  You sigh and nod.  “Now, call Kankri.”

 

“One last thing Porrim.”  You say.  “Should I explain we’re siblings?”

 

“If either of them start calling me Aunt or Aunty Porrim I will skin you alive.”  Porrim threatens and you chuckle.  She’s the one to hang up and you hesitate to bring the phone down from your ear.

 

When you do your fingers are shaking as you search through the redial for Kankri’s number.  You click call and you wait as it rings.  By the time the ringing stops you’re expecting the message bank.

 

“Father.”  You relax when, instead, you hear your eldest son’s voice.

 

“Hey Kankri.”  You say softly.  “We need to talk.  It’s about time I told you and Karkat the truth.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think the cliff hanger is starting to lose its meaning


	10. Burnt Black

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whelp, i just doubled this fanfictions length in a day

All your life you’ve moved around and all your life you’ve hated it.  You never had any friends, never even really knew how to talk to people because you were never around long enough.  It was nice to move out, to go to a singular school for your higher education, and nice to meet people outside of the three families yours spoke to.

 

It was not nice to meet Cronus.  It was, however, nice to get to know him.  And it was amazing to marry him, if only in a tiny ceremony. 

 

Since you’ve married him you’ve learnt to expect certain things.  Cronus can and will cook dinner if he’s home first, he’ll constantly forget to wash his dishes, he’ll tinker in the garage if you’re busy or he’s stressed or upset, and he’ll flush out his gills at least once a month, more if you hark on him that his neck must certainly be too dry for comfort.  This routine is comfortable and safe.  You don’t like changes to it.  So you’re slightly unnerved when you wake up at 7 in the morning without your husband still asleep beside you. 

 

You relax a little when you see the note he left, but you can’t keep the frown off your face.

 

You spend the morning busying yourself with chores and cooking, catching up on work you’re not behind in. 

 

Around 10 in morning you hear a knock and you wonder if Cronus forgot his keys.  When you open the door however, you’re greeted by the slightly shorter than yours form of your brother.

 

“Karkat?”  You ask.

 

“I’m not allergic to seawater.”  He mumbles.  “Dad fucking lied to me, all my god damn life.  He wouldn’t even fucking tell me why.  He just wanted to fucking move again.  I didn’t want to.  I caught a bus.”  You sigh, deciding to let the triggering language slip.

 

“Come on, I’ll make you some hot chocolate.”  You offer, gesturing for him to come in.

 

Karkat sits at the table and nurses a hot chocolate, he ends up falling asleep against the bench shortly after and a little after that you hear the door open.  You relax when Cronus wraps his arms around your waist.

 

“How was your walk?”  You ask softly.

 

“Eye opening.”  He replies softly, kissing you neck.  “Howv wvas your morning?”

 

“More eventful than I expected.” You hum, sipping your tea.  “Karkat’s run away from home and is currently sleeping at our kitchen bench.  I would be incredibly grateful if you could carry him to our bed.  I have considered that this may trigger him upon awaking but I believe it would be best for him to be laying down least his current sleeping position cause damage.”  You inform him and Cronus chuckles, kissing your cheek.

 

“On it babe.”  He hums.  You sit on the couch and wait for him to return from putting your younger brother to bed.  When he does he sits next to you and pulls you into his lip.  You huff and roll your eyes, reminding him of how triggering it can be to do such an action without warning but you still allow him to do it.

 

“What did you realize on your walk?”  You ask once you’re both settled.

 

“Home stuff.”  He sighs.  “It’s… complicated.”  He adds when you get raise an eyebrow. 

 

“You are aware you can tell me anything, correct?  I know that your home life is something I previously believed mythical, and that I did not believe you until you showed me your gills, but I do believe you know and I am willing to listen to any of it if will help you feel better.”  You say, turning to face him.  Cronus smiles and takes your hand, kissing the back of it softly. 

 

“I knowv doll.”  He smiles.  “Just… promise me ya wvon’t go near the wvater until I say it’s safe, kay?”

 

“Why?”  You frown and he hesitates.

 

“There’s a wvoman wvho aint that great wvho got banished a long time a’go cause they couldn’t kill’a.  Instead of stayin’ banished she’s been wvaiting to get back from the wvay the ocean feels right now I think she’s managed, or she’s close to.”  He eventually tells you.

 

“In that case, I won’t go near the water.”  You promise.  “What about your family Cronus?”  He takes a deep breath. 

 

“They… they’ll be alright.  They got pa to look afta ‘em.”  He says, sounding like he’s trying to assure himself as much as you.

 

You both end up watching television while your brother sleeps.  It’s not your preferred method of entertainment but it’s not to terrible.

 

It’s dusk when you hear the phone ringing.  You get up to answer it but freeze when you see the caller ID.

 

“Kan?”  Cronus frowns, looking over at you.

 

“It’s… dad.”  You mumble.  “I don’t know if I should answer this Cronus.”

 

“He at least deserves to know Karkat’s safe.”  Cronus offers, making an assumption on the call that you’ll never admit to making as well.  You still hesitate a moment, answering the phone just before the ring can cut out.

 

“Father.”  You greet, trying not to sound nervous.

 

“Hey Kankri.”  He says softly.  “We need to talk.  It’s about time I told you and Karkat the truth.”

 

“Excuse me?”  You frown. 

 

“Karkat was right.  You both deserve to know the truth about why I move so much and the stuff I lied about.”  He says.

 

“Then why did you take so long to call?”  You say, frown deepening. 

 

“Something… happened.  Against my will, I would like to add.  But it lead to many hours being lost and then I called Porrim, I didn’t think you would pick up if I was calling.”  He explains.  You’re not sure you trust him enough to believe him.  “Please, give me a chance.  I want to tell you but it’s probably best I tell you in person.  Can I have your address Kankri?”  You bite your lip, looking to Cronus for support.  He doesn’t know what your fathers saying but he smiles and gives you a thumbs up all the same.

 

“Alright.”  You agree, relaying to him your address.

 

“I’ll be there in a couple of hours.”  He says, hanging up.

 

“You did the right thing chief.”  Cronus promises.

 

“I hope.”  You sigh.

 

“What happened?”  You almost jump when you hear Karkat’s voice.

 

“Mornin’ Kar.”  Cronus greets, earning a glare.  You’re brothers never been much of a waking person.

 

“Father’s on his way.”  You tell him.

 

“What?!”  He snaps, suddenly wide awake.

 

“He says he wants to explain himself.”  You say, taking a deep breath.  “If he’s lying I won’t make you go back with him.”  You promise he hesitates to believe you. 

 

“Fine.”  He eventually mumbles. 

 

“How about I make dinner?”  Cronus offers.  He begins to cook and the group of you chat while he does.  He’s about half way through cooking up some chicken when he suggests inviting Sollux over.

 

“I’ll give him a call.”  You smile.  Sollux, however, doesn’t pick up.

 

“He’s probably down at the pier.”  Karkat offers and both you and Cronus freeze.

 

“He can’t be by the water.”  Cronus says.

 

“Why not?”  Your brother frowns.

 

“It’s not safe at the moment for anyone in or by the water.”  Cronus stresses.  Karkat remains frowning before something dawns on him.

 

“John.”  He says, jumping up and rushing to the door.

 

“Karkat stop!”  You call after him.

 

“I’ll get him.”  Cronus says.  “Stay here.”  He races after Karkat and you’re suddenly alone with the chicken slowly turning a burnt black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is this the last cliff hanger of the day?  
> Only if its the last chapter i upload today.


	11. Storm Black

Never in your life has the ocean felt as thick with dread as it has in the last few days.  You know it’s not just you that feels it either, Rose has looked more seldom, your dad has a tenseness to his shoulders, King Egbert is cooking more which you’ve overheard is his ‘tell’, and even King Strider has seemed on edge. 

 

You don’t think any of the other kids your age have noticed it.  John’s still as oblivious as ever, and you bet that Dave’s tenseness is due to his brother’s attitude, Jade seems cheerful as ever, as does Feferi, only you and Rose seem to have noticed.

 

It’s different for the kids older than you.  All of them seem to have noticed, expect maybe Meenah who’s as carefree as ever.  You think maybe that means you are excelling over your peers and for a moment you feel prideful about it, until the thick dread digs into your gut again.

 

You haven’t said a thing about it to Sollux, though you think he’s noticed somethings off the past few days. 

 

Today, instead of meeting with him, you’re sitting in one of the rooms with Dirk waiting for your father, his brother, and John’s father to leave the meeting they’re currently having.

 

“What do you think it’s about?”  Dirk asks and you glare at him, frowning.

 

“Isn’t it obvwious?”  You snap and he shrugs.

 

“Yeah, just trying to make small talk.”  He sighs.  “It’s going to be okay Eridan.”  He says after few minutes, watching you fidget in your spot.  You glare at him.

 

“I know that!”  You declare.  “Dad, King Egbert, and King Strider will figure this out.”  You don’t sound as sure as you wish you did.

 

“Exactly, so stop worrying.”  Dirk says.  He’s one of the few people in the castle that puts up with you and actively makes an effort with you, almost no one else tries until they need something.

 

“I am _not_ worrying!”  You shout, it doesn’t mean you treat him any better for it.  Not when you know the only reason he does it is because he used to be your brothers moirail until you brother went missing.  He raises an eyebrow and opens his mouth to say something but instead you hear a crash somewhere else in the building.  Without wasting a second Dirk is swimming towards the door, checking where the noise came from. 

 

“It came from your dad’s office.”  He tells you and you freeze.

 

“Dad’s trident!”  You say, swimming passed him and towards the office.  Dirk is quick to catch up, coming with you until you stop in front of the new entrance to your dad’s office, a hole in the wall.  Through it you stare, wide eyed, at the person holding the trident.

 

“Arenea, what the hell are you doing?”  Dirk speaks from behind you.  On the ground both Vriska and Meenah are laying.  You hope they’re just knocked out.

 

“I’m fixing this kingdom.”  Arenea announces, smirking at you both.  “Corruption, suppression, crime.  The city is amuck with it.  I’m going to fix that, even if it means starting from scratch.”  The trident’s pointed at you and your eyes widen as a blast is sent your way.

 

If not for Dirk’s speed you’d both be dead.

 

He swims and drags you away from the scene.  You hear Arenea’s noise of disapproval but she doesn’t follow you.  Instead you hear crashes as she begins to destroy the castle, destroy your home. 

 

Dirk stops once you’re out of the castle, panting lightly. 

 

“Wvhy’d you stop?  Dirk we need to get out of here!”  You shout before you notice that he’s staring at something.  Nervously you turn your head to look as well.

 

There’s a storm black cloud in the ocean and at the front of that you see a woman with a fuchsia coloured tail, brown hair almost as large as the cloud that seems to radiate the dread you’ve been feeling.  The image is hazy, like an image from a dream that’s slowly becoming more and more real.  She’s not here yet but you only have minutes.

 

“Dirk, wvho is that?”  You ask.  You don’t need to ask, you’ve seen her likeness before and you’ve been warned repeatedly about who she is.

 

“Eridan, get the surface, I don’t care how or where.  You need to get out of the water.”  Dirk tells you.

 

“Wvhat about you?”  You say, grabbing your brother’s best friend’s arm tightly.

 

“Chances are this is going to be real bad, but chances of survival for the masses increase if the kings know what’s going on.  Right now they’ve probably found Arenea and they have no idea that what we feared is exactly what happened.  Someones got to go tell them.”  He explains.

 

“You could get killed!”  You protest, trying to talk sense into a Strider, of all people.

 

“Then I die a hero and you can sing songs about me later.  Get going, if you see Dave bring him with you.  Same with John.  Stay safe.”  He says, pulling our arm off and then he’s gone and that black storm is almost firm in colour. 

 

You feel shitty for being a coward, for not following him into the castle and helping, for not attempting to look for John or Dave or anyone.  You swim as fast as you can to the pier that Sollux might still be waiting at. 

 

* * *

 

He’s there, sitting on the edge of the pier with your seahorse in his hands.  You don’t even take note of it, swimming to the part of the pier you can reach with your hands and starting to pull yourself out of water. 

 

“Help me out!”  You shout at him, not caring that he’s confused.  The sounds of your kingdom being destroyed is still ringing in your ears. 

 

“ED what happened?”  He asks and it’s a fair question but he’s pulling you out of the water as he asks.

 

“She’s… she’s back, she’s back and Arena has the Trident and she’s, oh god.”  You ramble, words mixing together as you talk fast.  Behind you the water is beginning to storm and you look back.  The water is dark and there’s a storm brewing in the sky much like the one that began beneath.

 

“Eridan, who’th back, what trident?  What are you talking about?”  Sollux asks, picking up on your panic and talking fast.

 

“John!”  You hear someone scream before you can respond.  You both turn your heads and find a small human screaming at the sea.  You freeze.  Your tail is clearly visible as you lay on the pier.  Sollux frowns next to you.

 

“KK?”  He calls, clearly without thinking because this human will _see you_.  The boy turns his head and frowns.

 

“Sollux?”  He calls and then he’s running over and he’s going to fucking.  See.  You.  “This is going to sound fucking insa-“  He spots you, stops a moment, then turns back to Sollux.  “Okay, so it won’t sound insane.  Have you seen a mermaid with a blue tail, blue eyes, and black hair?  Goes by the name John?”  You frown at him.

 

“Howv the fuck do you knowv John?”  You glare at the human.

 

“You know him?  Can you get him?  Fuck, I need to warn him Cronus said-“

 

“Cronus?!”  You snap and speak of the devil he runs onto the shore from above on a pair a _legs_ , your brother has _legs_.

 

“Karkat get awway from the wwater!”  He shouts before he spots the group of you and freezes before running a hand through his hair that looks so different, what has he do to it?  “Okay, evveryone’s here.  Fuck.  Okay.”  He takes a deep breath and runs over, kneeling to pick you up.  You struggle as he does so, glaring.

 

“Put me the fuck down Cro!”  You shut.

 

“There’s no wvay you can get awvay from the water ya’self.”  He states.  “Come on, evweryone back to the house.  We gotta get awvay from the water.”

 

“Can thomeone tell me what the fuck’th going on?”  Sollux demands. 

 

“I fucking have to make sure John’s okay!”  The boy, Karkat you assume, protests.

 

“This is wwhere you’vve been Cro?  Wwhy?”  You demand your brother and you’re all talking at once and he tenses as he holds you.

 

“Quiet!”  Cronus shouts.  “Wve aint got time for this right nowv, wve gotta get ya somewvhere safe.  I promise I’ll explain evwerythin’ back at the house.” 

 

“What about John?”  Karkat glares, fists clenched at his sides.

 

“If it’s the John I think it is he’ll be fine.  He’s got a knight wvith him 24/7 and his dad aint someone t’ be taken lightly either.   Let’s go.”  Cronus says, turning towards where he came with you in his arms.

 

You’d been too busy shouting to hear the storm that was raging and your only warning is Sollux letting out a scream before a tidal wave crashes against the beach.  Your head hits the deck and everything goes black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the tension continues to build.  
> I swear its gonna crash in the next Cronus POV, but for now have another cliff hanger


	12. Dead Blue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for spelling errors or errors with the fucking wv vw ww and vv of the amporas

You do not head home.  Instead you head to the beach.  Despite your years with a tail never feeling right the ocean always has.  Not right now though.  The ocean looks so wrong; its colour off, its waves unnerving.  You frown as you watch the waves, trying to figure it out.  The water crawls up the beach to you and drenches your shoes and ankles.

 

You feel like an idiot the second it does.

 

It feels like you just realized you were in the middle of a nightmare, or perhaps it’s more a like to remembering something you now have once hurt you as a child.  The point is, the water touches your skin and you remember where you felt the thick dread before.  You were barely a gubby learning to swim without an adult’s watchful eye when it happened but you don’t think anyone could forget how thick the water was with the sea witch controlling it and raging a war she seemed to be winning. 

 

When the most powerful women in the sea is evil and her magic feeds into the ocean, the water itself feels evil despite its beauty and peace at other times.  It’s not as strong as it was before she was banished but it’s getting there.

 

You had no idea what you were going to do now, staring into the dead blue water.  You could gain your tail again and warn your father, or better yet make sure he’s okay.  But doing that would require cutting your legs in the water and while you have a pocket knife on you, you doubt it’ll be good to even hint at your location with the released monster in the ocean.

 

You spend the next few hours trying to figure out what to do before you return home.  You have to at least make sure Kankri is safe.

 

Of course that doesn’t work out as well for keeping Karkat safe and suddenly you’re on the beach with a number of people you care about and then you’re in the water and you really _cannot_ be in the water right now.  But its chaotic, there’s no escaping it and when finally you can see straight again your miles from any sign on shore.  You gasp in through your gills and freeze.

 

From here you can see your brother with a big bruise on his forehead.  He’s not dead, you can see his gills working.  Karkat and Sollux, however, you can’t be so sure.  You swim to the closer of the two first, Karkat.  Without wasting a second you pull your pocket knife from the jean of your pants and draw it across the side of his neck, hoping you weren’t wrong about him. 

 

His eyes snap open and he cries out by the time you start the third slice, beneath the first. 

 

“Calm dowvn kiddo.  Okay?  This is gonna hurt but it needs to be if ya don’t wvanna drowvn.”  You tell him.  His eyes are wide and he’s starring at you like he’s terrified.  You finish the fourth one on the other side, below the second and in line with the third.  “Nowv breath.”  You tell him.  He’s still looking at you like you’re crazy but you know his lungs are going to start burning soon.  When they do, he gasps in breaths through the nearly opened gills.  They fan open and red blood clears out before he’s breathing normally.

 

You rush to Sollux and repeat the process, hoping you’re not too late.  You know a mermaid with closed gills still has a much larger lung space but you’re still not sure you’re fast enough as you drag the knife across his throat.  This time when you get to the third one its Eridan whose waking up.

 

“Cro wwater you doin’?!”  He shouts, quick to swim you to get you away from Sollux before you can react. 

 

“Calm dowvn Eri.”  You say softly.  “I’m just lettin’ his gills out.”

 

“He, he, Cronus he’s human!  They don’t havve gills!”  Eridan shouts and you wince at the loudness.  You guess you must’ve hit something in all the chaos.

 

“He aint human.  Neither’s that one.  He’s a Captor.  Now let me help him before he drowns Eridan.”  You instruct and your brother’s eyes widened slightly.  You push him aside and finish freeing the gills beneath Sollux’s skin.  Blood pours out, red that quickly turns yellow much to Karkat’s shock.  Sollux doesn’t wake up yet though and you grab him, putting his arm around your shoulders.  “Wve gotta get somewhere safe.” 

 

“What the fuck is going on?”  Karkat asks, put his follows you as you swim towards a rock cave.  Your deep under water, near a coral bed, the area looks familiar but you need more time to recognize it.  Not to mention you know that the storms just starting, both above and below water.  You need somewhere to hide.  “How can I fucking _breathe_ right now?  Why’d you fucking cut my neck?  Why’d you cut Sollux’s?  Is he alive?  What do you mean he’s not human?  Can someone just fucking _explain this shit to me?_ ”  You ignore his rant until you, Sollux, Eridan, and he are safely in the cave. 

 

“Your old man wvas gonna to explain wvhen he got ta our place.”  You say.  At least that’s you assume he meant.

 

“What’s Dad got to do with this?”  Karkat asks, frowning at you.  His voice is starting to become less laboured and less strange, his body adjusting to the new gills. 

 

“Evwerythin’ really.”  You sigh.  “You’re old man’s a mermaid.  A pretty fuckin’ heroic and famous one at that.”  He laughs, but it sounds forced and fake.

 

“You’re fucking kidding right?  I mean you almost lost me at ‘mermaid’ but ‘heroic’?  Hasn’t Kankri told you anything about him?”  He says.

 

“Yeah, and that’s wvhy I didn’t recognize him at the name ‘Vantas’.  Then I sawv a picture of Sollux’s old man and there wasn’t any denyin’ who they were.” 

 

“So… Sol’s dad really is the mage that helped banish her the first time?”  Eridan asks, biting his lip and looking at his tail fin rather than you. 

 

“Yeah.”  You nod.  “I don’t knowv howv she got back, but they’re the ones that stopped her the first time.”

 

“Then this is my fault.”  Eridan gulps.

 

“Eri, this aint your fault, wvhat could ya havwe done?”  You sigh.

 

“I coulda told Pa that she wwasn’t alone in the dream bubbles.”  He mumbles and you frown.

 

“Wvhat do you mean?”  You ask.

 

“I… Sol asked me to look for his brother and his dad, cause he wwanted to knoww wwhere they wwere and shit.”  He starts.  “And I found ‘em when I snuck into the cave wwith the pools that reflect the dream bubbles.  They wwere wwith ‘er and his dad was hooked up to somethin’ but I didn’t knoww wwhat and I… I didn’t tell anyone cause I kneww I wwasn’t allowwed in the cave and I didn’t think they coulda done anything anywway.”  He explains, speaking quickly and panickedly.  You run a hand through your hair, the gel all washed away now.

 

“Jesus Eridan.”  You mumble.

 

“I didn’t knoww!”  He snaps and you sigh, nodding. 

 

“It’s okay, wve’ll fix this, wve’ll find a wvay, okay?”  You promise and he nods.

 

“I still don’t get what the fucks going on!”  Karkat shouts, glaring between you both and you sigh again.

 

“Ya should be hearin’ this from ya pa, not me.”  You say, all the same you take a deep breath.  “Did ya old man evwer tell ya some scary bedtime story ‘bout the sea?” 

 

“Uh, yeah?  I think so?”  He says, not seeing where you’re going with this.  “Some dumb fucking thing about a witch who wanted to rule the sea, but was stopped by her assistant and a servant and then banished by her ex-lover or some shit.”

 

“Yeah, wvell that aint far from the truth.”  You sigh.  “The Condesce started out rulin’ the kingdom of Alternia, a large kingdom in the ocean that had a huge army and a strict rulin’ system based on tail, and blood, colour.  But it wvasn’t enough.  So she started breedin’ and hatchin’ soldiers and our pa wvas hatched to be the general of ‘em, vwiolet was just belowv ‘er colour fuchsia.  And ya, I said hatched.  Wvhen a mermaids pregnant they can’t do much by her standards so she started a system wvhere science and magic was used to givwe birth instead of mermaids.”  You start.

 

“Wvhen she finally started the wvar it wvas brutual, Derse put up a huge fight but Prospit’s army didn’t havwe shit on Alternia’s and wvhen it was captured the Condesce used their king to forced Derse to surrender.  Once she wvas rulin’ no one could oppose ‘er.  That’s wvhere your dad comes in.  He wvas a red tail, so far down the system he wvasn’t evwen on it.  A mermaid referred to as Mother Maryam raised ‘im outta ‘er sight, safe and sound.  But the second he learnt to talk he learnt to talk against the empress, not something ya should be doing.  Thing is, though, people started to listen.”

 

“The Condesce kept slaves, mages and witches with the power to do her bidding, normally lowver blood like Sollux ovwer there.  Or really, his old man.  Captor’s the strongest mage that’s ever existed and he wvas her favourite.  But one day ‘e met your dad and the next he’d run from the woman.  He also found Leijon, wvho wvas a huntress they say.  Wvith just the four of them they lead a rebellion against ‘er and wvhen they reached the castle they freed King Egbert and King Strider and the two joined them.  Our Dad helped them wvhen they reached her throne room, betraying ‘er and givin’ Vwantas and his group the chance to capture her.  Dad thought that spillin’ Fuchsia blood wvoulda done the Alternian people more harm than good so instead Captor banished ‘er to the dreams.”

 

“Their rebellion had sacrifices though.  Before they reached the castle Vwantas had been kidnapped and wvhen they savwed him Leijon wvas captured and killed.  Maryam wvas also captured, and it seemed okay at first because she wvas put in the care of a wvoman wvho wvas on the side of Vwantas, but wvhen their ties wvere found out the Empress sent someone to hunt them dowvn and they havwen’t been seen since.”  You finish the history lesson, not sure how much of it Karkat actually took in.

 

“Then why was on land, with legs?  Why the fuck was dad on land with legs?”

 

“Don’t knowv.”  You shrug.  “Vwantas and Captor went missin’ after the last battle, I guess they ended up on land.” 

 

“Wow.  That’s… fuck that’s a lot to take in.”  He breathes.

 

“Yeah, ya probably gonna havwe time to adjust to it later.  Right nowv wve need to movwe to a different cavwe cause I just realized that she’ll be able to smell ya blood and funnily enough she’s not exactly gonna wvanna make friends.”  You say, running a hand through your hair.  “This’ll be quicker if I got a tail.”  You mumble, looking down at your legs.  “Ya might wvanna look awvay.”  You say, waiting until both boys have before pulling your pants off and dragging the pocket knife across the inside of your leg.  The second water is in your system your legs feel forced together, you shut your eyes tight and wait.  It’s not as painful to gain your tail as it is to lose and you open your eyes to find the violet scales back in place.  With a sigh you tell the boys they can look now. 

 

You think Karkat’s eyes bulge a little, Eridan looks relaxed and a bit smug. 

 

“Let’s go.”  You say, picking up Sollux.  “Eridan, you help Karkat.  Wve aint got that long till the storm starts belowv wvater too so wve gotta hurry and Karkat, be careful.  You cut your legs and you’ll lost them.”    

 

With that you start swimming off, your brother and brother-in-law following behind you.  When you finally reach what you deem ‘safety’ you hurry them aside and you wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hands up if you thought Dead Blue meant John was dead.  
> Also now i want to write a prequel  
> Also, see, tension break. Or drop really.


	13. Mutant Red

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want to read some of my original word check out these  
> Forced Comrades: http://thegreatergood.tumblr.com/  
> I Choose Or: http://i-choose-or.tumblr.com/
> 
> And if you want to request a drabble or bug me to update here's my blog for that: http://amuseandbored.tumblr.com/

The rain started without warning.  One moment things were fine, the next rains pouring down so hard you almost can’t see.  The second it does you slam to a stop, luckily the back road is empty, but before you can do anything else you hear your phone ringing.  You check the ID before answering the phone.

 

“Is that the sign?”  Porrim asks.  She’s more nervous than she was when you called her only hours early.  You take a deep breath. 

 

“Yes.”  You answer.  “She’s back.”

 

“What are we going to do Silas?”  She mumbles. 

 

“I need to go back.  Find the others and this time the effects need to be more… permeant.”  You say, running your hand through your hair.  You sound so much calmer that you did last you spoke to your sister but you’re shaking.  You haven’t gone home since she vanished and her return was the very reason way.  You don’t _want_ to go back.  You want to run away were she’ll never be able to touch you or your family again.

 

But he can’t be selfish anymore like you’re beginning to realize you’ve been since you abandoned your war ravished home.  You were right, of course, because she has returned and Simon went missing on the water.  But Sollux and Mituna were safe on shore in that one spot, you boys would have been too.  You can remember your old childhood spent on the run and you had hated it, yet you forced that on your boys and dragged them away.  At least mother was honest with you about the reasons why you’d had to run.

 

“What about Kankri and Karkat?”  Porrim asks. 

 

“Can you to them?  Tell them the truth about what’s happening.”  You instruct.

 

“They deserve to hear it from you.”  Porrim replies almost instantly.

 

“Yes.  I know.”  You sigh. 

 

“Is it safe to head into the water before the storm calms down?”  She asks.

 

“No.”  You admit.

 

“Then how about we met at Kankri’s house?  We’ll explain it to him and leave when the storm calms down.”  She suggests.  You think it over for a moment before you reply.

 

“Alright.”  You say.  “I’ll see you soon Porrim.”

 

“Bye Silas.”  She says.  The second you hang up your phone starts ringing again.  You answer it the second you realize its Kankri.

 

“Dad?”  He asks.  He sounds like he’s crying and you frown.  You don’t believe you’ve heard or seen your eldest cry in years. 

 

“Yes Kankri, it’s me.  Are you alright?”  You ask, starting up the car again.  It’s almost impossible to see but you know where you’re going and you pray luck is on your side.

 

“Yes, yes I’m fine.”  He says and you hear his voice crack, word catching in his throat.  “Cronus, he, he made sure was high above sea level, I’m on quite the hill but, but he, and Karkat, and Sollux, they-“  He cuts himself off with a sob.  Kankri, your son who could out lecture you, is having trouble speaking.  Despite the danger, you sped up. 

 

“It’s alright Kankri.”  You say softly.  “What happened?”

 

“They were, they were on the shore.  By the pier.”  Kankri sobs.  “Cronus said, he said the water was dangerous and we couldn’t go down there but Karkat said Sollux was down there when we couldn’t get a hold of him.  They both ran down to the pier and, and, there was a wave.  It was too big and they would have been right in front of it and he doesn’t, Cronus doesn’t have his phone on him.”  He rambles and you almost can’t understand him.

 

“Calm down Kankri.  What about Mituna, where’s he?  And who’s Cronus?”  You say, speaking calmly because as terrible a father as you’ve been this is your son and he needs you right now.

 

“Mituna was with Simon when he went missing.”  Kankri says.  “Sollux didn’t tell you because he didn’t want to move.”  You curse and run a hand through your hair.  The only reason you hadn’t forced Sollux to move was because you thought he at least had an adult around.  Another terrible thing caused by your selfishness, you suppose.  “Cronus is my husband.”  He adds, the words mumbled.  The name sounds so familiar but for this moment you decide to focus on ‘husband’.

 

“ _Husband?!_ ”  You shout. 

 

“Please, father, don’t be mad at me.”  He mumbles.  “I know he’s a man, and I know you’re religious but, well, I-“  This time it’s you that’s cutting him off

 

“Kankri, did you think I would not approve of you dating a man?”  You frown.

 

“Well, I know how religious you and the common response to finding out a person is gay by parents.”  He rambles.

 

“Kankri, I am pansexual and panromantic.  I have had many a male partner.  I won’t lie and say I’m not upset you didn’t tell me you were getting married, but I am certainly not mad that you’re gay.”  You assure him and he lets out a sigh of relief as the weight on his shoulders that was no doubt there for years raises.  “Tell me about him.”  You say, wanting to get both his and your minds off of what happened to Cronus, Karkat, and Sollux.  You silently pray that they inherited the mermaid instinct not to open try to breath once knocked out underwater and that their lungs are as large as a regular mermaids. 

 

Kankri begins to speak but the phone disconnects shortly after.  You try to call back but get nothing and you curse as you throw the phone to the other side of the car.  The rest of the trip is silent but for the rain and the only thing you can think about is your sons, one above water and two possibly below, and this Cronus boy whose name you still can’t place.

 

When you get to the village there’s too much water to be able to drive without ending up submerged and there’s a current you know you wouldn’t risk if not for Kankri’s house being through the mess.  You try not to think of the people no doubt dead, injured, or having just lost someone and for a moment your grateful Sollux isn’t here.

 

You get out of the car and pull off your shoes, pants, and shirt.  Things that will just weigh you down while swimming.  You leave it all in the car, stretch out your webbed feet, and beginning the walk-swim to your son’s house.  It takes you a while to get there with how careful you have to be to not get your legs cut or any other part of you cut for that matter.  Eventually, however, you manage to arrive at the home on the hill and knock on the door.

 

Almost instantly it’s thrown open and Kankri has his arms wrapped around you.  You let out a small noise of shock before hugging him back.  You can’t remember the last time you hugged either of your sons.

 

“You’re okay.”  He mumbles.

 

“I’m fine.”  You assure him softly before taking a deep breath.  “Kankri there’s something I have to tell you and I’m not sure you’re going to believe me.”  You say after a moment.

 

“Come inside then.  You must be freezing.”  He says and you know he’s trying his hardest to act collected but he’s really not fooling you.  You don’t call him out though, following him to the couch.  He brings you a blanket and you smile and wrap it around yourself though you’re not cold.

 

“Thank you.”  You say.  “Kankri, do you believe in mermaids?”  You ask and he tenses up. 

 

“I… um, y-yes.”  He admits and you raise an eyebrow at his uncharacteristic stumbling before something finally clicks in your head.

 

“Kankri, may I please see a photo of Cronus?”  You ask.  He hesitates before taking a photo sitting nearby and heading it over.  It’s a boy that looks familiar but not quite, sitting on a motorcycle.

 

“He looks a lot like his father.”  You say, smiling a bit.  “Though Donovan wouldn’t be caught dead dressed like that.”  You add with a chuckle and Kankri frowns.

 

“You… know Cronus’s father?”  He asks nervously.

 

“Yes.  We were… ‘friends’ once I suppose.  It was quite an odd friendship considering he was as close to the Empress as one could be but I suppose that’s also why we became friends.”  You tell him.  “What has Cronus told you about Alternia?” 

 

“Alternia?  Nothing.  No, I believe he mentioned it in passing once.  Something about it being where his father ruled before Skaia was formed.  He didn’t talk much about his home life, it was an uncomfortable topic for him and he said mermaids had many secrets not supposed to be shared.  How do you know about this father?”  Kankri’s still frowning but you can’t stop smiling. 

 

“And he’s absolutely right.  His father would be infuriated just knowing that he’d been near the shore let alone that Cronus married someone ‘human’.  He’d give a huge lecture about ‘tradition’ and ‘secrets’ and bluh bluh bluh.”  You chuckle softly.  “I hope I’m there when he finds out.”  You hum.  “I’m getting off the point here.”  You say, shaking your head.  “Have you seen the scars on Cronus’s legs?  Assuming he couldn’t find a witch that could change him that is, he should have them on the inside of his thighs all the way down.” 

 

“Yes.  Father, can you please just explain what’s going on?”  Kankri says, clearly getting impatient while you began to reminisce.

 

“Kankri, I have those same scars.”  You say.  “For you and the others we asked an old witch but by the time the war had ended she was gone, as such Simon and I had to do things the old fashioned way, which leaves scars.”  He’s quiet for a moment, eyes wide as Kankri takes the knowledge in.

 

“But you don’t have gills.”  He eventually says.

 

“I do, I simply didn’t wash them out.  After a short while skin grew over them so no one could tell.”  You explain.  “As do you, and Karkat and Sollux.”  You add.  “So you do not need to stress.  I’m sure Cronus put two and two together by now and figured out Karkat and Sollux aren’t human.  The 3 of them are fine.”  You promise, deciding not to mention the fact the currently person in control of the ocean certainly has it out for the boys.  You decided to be truthful, not scare him.

 

“Why didn’t you tell me?  Does Karkat know?  What about Sollux?”  He demands, shock turning to anger.

 

“I didn’t want to risk you heading back into the water.  Simon and I both decided it was safer if you believed yourselves human.  The ocean isn’t safe, it’s why I lied to Karkat about his allergy, he was so drawn to the water as a child I was worried.”  You admit.  “It’s the same reason I kept moving.  I didn’t want to risk your safety.  The easiest way was to leave no trace of us in one place for too long.”

 

“You could have told us!”  He snapped.  “You’ve lied to us both our entire lives!” 

 

“I know Kankri.  I’m sorry.”  You sigh.  “And all my worrying only drove you both away and put you in more danger.  But I was scared Kankri.  The Empress had plagued my life with the threat of death all my life and I couldn’t trust that she was truly gone and I could live any way than what I had all my life.  I was right about her returning, but I know that doesn’t make up for anything.”  You take a deep breath before you continue.  “I have to return to the ocean once the storm settles.  I need to find the boys, of course, but there is a war about to start and I need to stop it again.”

 

“I hope you don’t think that you’re going alone.”  You turn to find your sister leaning against the wall watching you both. 

 

“You simply could not resist the grand entrance, could you?”  You tease, smiling at her.

 

“Porrim?”  Kankri frowns.  You don’t remember a time that he’s gone this long without lecturing anyone.  Either he’s changed quite a bit or he’s currently got too much to understand to tell any of it off right now.

 

“Hello Kanny, sorry for being uninvited but cell service is terrible at the end of the world.”  She says and you notice her gills have already been cut open.

 

“It is not the end of the world Porrim.”  You sigh.

 

“Aren’t you a church boy?”  A woman you don’t know in a skirt much too short to be warm speaks as she sits next to a very uncomfortable looking Kankri, throwing an arm around the back of the couch and resting the other on the couch arm, smoking.  “Shouldn’t you be thinking it’s that 40 day flood shit?”

 

“Silas, this is my wife Damara.”  Porrim introduces and you shake the woman’s hand, deciding to ignore her comments.

 

“Nice to meet you.”  You say to her before turning back to Porrim.  “If you’re trying to suggest that you plan to come along I completely forbid it Porrim.  It’s bound to be dangerous.” 

 

“That’s the fun part.”  Damara smirks.

 

“Damara, honey, I love you but you don’t have gills.”  Porrim rolls her eyes, joining you all at the couch and sitting on the couch arm.

 

“Don’t have- I, is there any other secrets I should be aware of?”  Kankri asks, voice high pitched and going from anger to a mental meltdown, you think.

 

“Kanaya’s also a mermaid.  She’s stayed home.  She has friends she wanted to check in with so we went our own ways.”  Porrim hums.

 

“You left her alone?!”  You snap, eyes wide.

 

“I left her with friends, and clear instructions not to go into the water.  Calm down Silas.”  Porrim sighs.

 

“Kankri, you should also know that Porrim is your aunt.”  You tell your son instead, a petty way to get back at Porrim who glares at you while your son makes an unintelligible noise as he tries to process everything.

 

“Silas, go get your gills open.”  Porrim demands.  You sigh but stand, hoping our son will be able to wrap his head at everything by the time you’re back.

 

You’re lucky that the water in the bathroom still works, and fills the tub before you get in with a knife you found in the kitchen.  You take a deep breath in through the mouth before shutting your eyes and submerging your head and neck.  You make quick work of the skin over your gills and breathe out through them, shivering at the feeling of blood and loose skin pushing out of slits when you do.  When you open your eyes the water is stained the colour of your blood.  Were you anyone else that colour would change to match your mermaid form, reacting to the water washing away the spell on it, but for you the water remains mutant red.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want to read some of my original word check out these blogs  
> Forced Comrades: http://thegreatergood.tumblr.com/  
> I Choose Or: http://i-choose-or.tumblr.com/
> 
> And if you want to request a drabble or bug me to update here's my blog for that: http://amuseandbored.tumblr.com/


	14. Royal Blue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now you daily scheduled action

The first thing that registers is that everything _hurts_.  Like really, really hurts.  It feels like a building collapsed on top of you.

 

That’s when you remember that’s exactly what happened and your eyes open as the memories of _why_ the building collapsed flood back.

 

You don’t know who to pray to as you look around.  You’re trapped under what used to be the knights equipment shed, just on the out skirts of the castle grounds.  Your arms still under a rock and you feel the pain the second you notice it but it’s quickly drowned out by panic. 

 

You were with Dave when this all started.  Right now you can’t see Dave.  You can’t hear Dave.  You can’t hear _anyone_.  Your breathing picks up as you panic and you go to get up but instead you let out a shout of pain when your arm shifts.

 

You pray no one hears you.  Not when those people could include Arenea, could include the woman in the black cloud that you desperately wish isn’t who you think it is. 

 

You take a few deep breaths, trying to calm down.  You’re almost surprised when it works.  With a few more deep breaths you try to push the rock off your arm enough to get the limb out.  It works and you gasp in pain as you move your arm to quickly you of the way.

 

You can’t move your fingers and you’re bleeding.  You take a few more shaky breaths, sitting up more carefully.  You can’t do much more than that in this small safe spot beneath all the rubble. 

 

How are you going to get out of this?  You know the basics of life magic and you’ve mastered breath magic but you can’t use either of those to get out of here without causing a scene.  You’re certain you don’t want to cause a scene. 

 

“What am I going to do?”  You mumble to yourself, feeling tears starting to swell.  You’ve never felt this hopeless.  You’re trapped, your arm is certainly broken, your kingdom is or has been attacked, and your best friend is missing. 

 

You sit there for a little while, trying to find the silver lining or at least a possibility.  You don’t come up with any.  You shut your eyes and ring the middle of your tail to your chest, shutting your eyes tight.

 

Then you remember Karkat.

 

Your kingdom has been attacked and you’re best friend is missing.  But there is a boy on the surface who is still alive, but who might be in danger.  You take that knowledge and you apply it to yourself.  You are a boy in the ocean who is alive, even if you might be in danger.  You take that knowledge and you apply it to your kingdom.  You’re left with the result that there is no doubt at least one other person in the ocean who is alive and who might be in danger.  You know what to do, you have to make sure they’re not in danger. 

 

With this thought in mind you look around.  The rubble above you is large, enough so that you can brace yourself against it and try to lift it, even if with only one arm.  You’re strong, and you know this.  And it’s large enough that you think it should be able to push off anything above you.  It’s much looser logic then you had before but you ignore that and try away.

 

You lift and it’s heavy, incredibly heavy.  Breath is a hard element underwater but even the ocean breaths, in its own way, and so you call the currents to you.  Not enough to draw attention, you hope, but enough to help.  It works and you grin as you move the large piece of rubble, and the singular smaller piece that was a top it, off of you. 

 

You’re free.  You’re arm still kills, but you’re free.

 

You look around.  All but the Alternian wing of the castle is in ruins but that not why you suddenly feel the need to puke.  Bodies litter the ocean, blood of all colours everywhere.  You cover your mouth with your hands, eyes wide, and try desperately to find the red colour that could only have come from your best friend. 

 

As you search your eyes are drawn to the colour past the bodies and the destruction, the colour of the storming ocean just past your homes fence line.  The water moving too fast to be safe and you know if you were to stick even just your hand outside the safety of the storms eye you would be swept away, possibly killed.

 

You’ve never seen anyone with that kind of power. 

 

You’re not sure what to do.  You feel like you’ve gotten out of the frying pain and into the fire, even if you’re safe in the eye of the storm.  You take a deep breath and try to collect yourself, try to ignore the shades in the water.  You’re a sitting duck floating there on top of the ruins of the old shed, the only problem is that the only cover is the castle, and if here is the fire there is the match.

 

All the same you head towards, sneaking and making sure you aren’t seen.  Your stealth is wasted because the only mermaids to see you are already dead.

 

By the time you make it to the castle you can hear an unfamiliar voice screaming. 

 

“TELL ME!”  You press yourself against a pillar, careful of your badly injured arm, and look to what was once the courtyard in the middle of your home but is now a front with the Prospit and Derse wings destroyed.  A woman is floating and holding someone but you can’t see who passed her mess of black hair.  To her left you see King Strider being held by a purple tailed monster.  Arenea is watching from next to another guard, this time an indigo tail.  In front of her, slightly to the right, you can see Prince Dirk, Princess Meenah, Lady Roxy, Vriska, and Jade lined up where the yard meets the storm, guarded by two indigo tailed guards. 

 

You had really hoped you were wrong with that singular glimpse you caught of her before the building collapsed yesterday but your first thoughts been confirmed.  She’s even scarier than her poritrait.

 

“Never.”  The person she’s holding says and you freeze, almost letting out a sob.  She’s holding your father.

 

“If ya don’t I’ll krill them wrigglers.”  The woman says, gesturing to the guards who move closer to the line-up of family and friends.  The 5 of them stand strong.

 

“I know better than to think you’ll let us go if I tell you.”  You father replies, tone calm and firm as ever. 

 

“Tuna.  But, at least then I’d make it painless.”  The woman says and you’re sure she’s grinning.  “I don’t need ya to have anyfin but a mouth to tell me water want.”  She moves her hand and picks up a trident just barely not hidden from you by her hair.  You hear the sword of metal hitting and tearing flesh and a grunt of pain.  King Strider tenses up and clenches his fists, his composure that’s so much better than Dave’s barely broken.  You see Roxy wince lightly, Jade bite her lip and shut her eyes tight, Dirk tense, and even Vriska look away.  You’re glad the woman’s hair shields your own sight of it.  All you see is royal blue mixing with the sea water.  She pulls her arm back and your father gasps.

 

“Push the blue one inta the storm.”  The woman orders.  “She ain’t royalty anywave, so consider ‘er a warnin’ James.”  One of the two guards moves closer to Vriska.  Meenah and Jade, to her left and right respectively, grab her hands as your once close friend glares at the person approaching.  You think the black haired woman rolls her eyes.  “If they aint gonna let ‘er go then push ‘em all out, might make Jamesy lips loosen.”  She orders.

 

“No!”  You shout without meaning to.  Everyone freezes and you press against your pillar.

 

“Come out bouy.”  The woman growls.  You hesitate but you’ve been caught anyway and you know she has guards anyway.  You gulp and swam away from the pillar, cradling your arm.  “And who, exactly, do you think you are?” 

 

“He’s King James son.”  Arenea answers.  “Prince John.  He’s a breath user, but he al-“  The black haired woman turns to glare at Arenea.

 

“Did I ask you gill?”  She snaps and Arenea flinches.  You’re almost glad, expect now you can see your father and you think you can see through the holes she stabbed into his shoulder.  You feel sick.  “Besides, you’re wrong.”  She adds, glaring at you.  “He aint no prince no more.  These are my waters.”  She’s picked up the trident and you think she’s about to throw it at you.  To do so, though, she lets go of your father and the second she does he attacks, elbowing her in the head and getting a hand on her trident holding hand.  The guard holding King Strider lets go of him to help and your best friend’s brother jumps into help your father.

 

They’ve got no chance though, neither of them have weapons and your fathers injured. 

 

Dirk used the distraction to attack one of the guards by them, spinning him around and throwing him at Roxy, who pushes him into the storm.  The other comes closer and Jade attacks but Vriska moves back to far and you let out a shout as she’s pulled away.  Jade had let go to attack but Meenah just let go. 

 

You don’t know what to do and you stand still for a long time before starting to move forward, wanting to help your father.  Dirk catches your good arm.

 

“John, we have to get out of here.”  He says. 

 

“But Dad-“  You start, turning to face him.  His shades are gone and he’s staring at you without the mask.  He doesn’t look like he wants to leave anymore than you do.

 

“They’ll be fine.  And she’s not going to kill them, not when they know where to get what she wants.  We don’t have that luxury.”  He says. 

 

“R-right.”  You stutter, shaking a bit in his hand.

 

“They’re getting away!”  Arenea shouts.  You see the black haired woman grab your fathers wound, causing him to let out a shout.  He glows green a moment and then you see your fathers eyes shut.  They don’t reopen and you don’t have time to see if Dirk’s a liar because the woman turns to you and Bro is too busy with the three guards left to help.  Dirk pulls you to the edge of the storm. 

 

“John, you need to do this part, alright?  Get the currents to obey you, not her.”  He instructs, his back to you.  You hesitate. 

 

Breath magic is a lot like life magic, after all everything needs to breathe.  The oceans currents are its breath and is life and you know you can fight for control over them but this woman is so, so much older and so much stronger than you.  Can’t Meenah do this?

 

“John!  Hurry it up!”  Dirk shouts back at you and you turn your head to see what’s happening.  Roxy’s fighting the black haired woman with Dirk, but they’re not much of a match against her.  Jade and Meenah are ready to attack, standing next to you.  You take a deep breath, gulping, and turn back to the storm.  She’s stronger but her magic is spread everywhere.  If you can just create a small, concentrated area, you’ll be safe. 

 

“Now!”  Bro’s the one that shouts.  You hear the woman scream and Jade, Meenah, and Roxy rush into the bubble you’ve created.  Dirk grabs your good hand and pulls you in with him.  The 5 of you swim away from the fight, you keeping the bubble around you strong.  You don’t know how long you swim until you stop, tuck yourselves away in a calm cave.  When you do you freeze.

 

You’ve left your father, possibly dead, in the hands of the ocean’s cruelest mistress.  You’ve left Bro to fight alone, the both of them having no way of escaping into the storm.  But that’s not why you freeze.

 

Dave could still be trapped under all the rubble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so bad at writing action


	15. Terror White

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I also suck at fish puns and just being Feferi in general

The storm lasts days before it eventually stops.  There’s still a wrongness to the ocean, a pull instead of a push, but it’s at least safe to swim out of the cave you’d stuffed yourself, your brother, our brother-in-law, and you’re neighbour.  The latter still hasn’t woken up and you’ve started getting worried.  You’re brothers been worried the whole time and you know Karkat has been as well, despite his attempts at hiding it. 

 

“Cro he’s still not awwake!”  Your brother tells you when you turn from the mouth of the cave to them.

 

“I can see that Eri.”  You roll your eyes.  It’s been a hard few days, sitting here with your brother freaking out and shouting at you about everything, about leaving, about marrying a human (even though you told him Kankri wasn’t technically human), about Sollux (even though that wasn’t your fault).  He and Karkat fight as well, and Karkat shouts at you for not telling him the truth, for not telling Kankri, even if it wasn’t your place too.

 

You don’t yell back.  Eridan’s got every right to be mad at you for leaving, and you know he’s just worried about Sollux.  Karkat, you know, is mad at everything but mostly his father and you’re the only one he can yell at is you.

 

They’re also both starving, you’re sure.  You are too.

 

“You boys stay ‘ere, alright?  I’m gonna go get us somethin’ to eat.”  Neither complain and you head out.  You realize you have no idea where you are.  Nothing looks the same, so much uprooted by the storm.  You’re lucky though, there’s seaweed everywhere.  You grab some and you even manage to hunt a few displaced fish before returning to the cave.

 

It’s oddly quiet and you wait outside for a moment.

 

“He’s going to wwake up right?”  Eridan’s speaking, asking Karkat.

 

“Of course!”  Karkat scoffs.  “He’s got to.”  He sounds less sure, more gentle.  You sigh softly.  They’re silent again and you’re about to go back in when Eridan speaks again.

 

“Are you really a Vvantas?”  He asks.

 

“Yeah… I guess.”  Karkat mumbles back.  You know that tone, it’s the same you would give if someone asked if you were really an Ampora.  Technically, yes, but that doesn’t mean you feel like one.

 

“Do you think your dads going to come savve us?”  Eridan asks.  “Like he did last time.”

 

“I doubt it.”  Karkat scoffs.  “My dad hates the water.  He’s fucking terrified of it.”  He mumbles and you remember the old man lied about Karkat being allergic to water.  “He’s a coward.” 

 

“No he aint.”  You say, causing both boys to jump as you enter.  “Your dad’s a hero.  He’s just a little ovwerprotectivwe.”  You tell him, because that’s the way you see it.  “I bet he’s already on his wvay to savwe ya.”  You add, Karkat stares at you a moment before turning his head away, frowning.  “Come on, eat up.”  You say, presenting the food to them.

 

“It isn’t cooked.”  Karkat complains. 

 

“It’s basically sushi Karkles.”  You sigh, rolling your eyes.  Eridan makes a face as the food but the two of them start to eat.  You sit down and start to eat as well, saving food for Sollux, as you try to think of what to do next.

 

You need to get Karkat and Sollux home, and you need to get Eridan somewhere safe.  You obviously need to get Sollux help first.

 

You’re all silent once you finish eating.  You think they fall asleep, they haven’t slept well since you got here.  You wake them up after you figure out what you have to do first.

 

“Wve need to find Feferi or Jane.”  You say.

 

“Who?”  Karkat frowns. 

 

“They’re a couple of princess’ wvith life magic.  They’ll be able to help Sollux.”  You say before remembering that humans don’t have magic.  “Uh, right, so mermaids havwe magic right?  And there’s 12 different types.  Hope, Rage, Life, Heart, Time, Blood, Space, Life, Breath, Light, Mind, and uh… Vwoi.  I alwvays forget that one.  Anywvay, mermaids follow one of the classes and learn that type of magic.  It’s hard ta explain really, it’s just sorta… a thing?”

 

“I think John mentioned that.  Said his sister taught him Life magic.”  Karkat mumbles, looking to his ankle.

 

“Makes sense, he uses Breath magic so it’d be possible for him to do a little bit of healin’.”  You tell him.  “Eridan, do you knowv wvhere they wvent?”  He bites his lip and hesitates to answer.

 

“No.”  He mumbles.  “I… I ran away before I saww them.”  He says.  “It wwasn`t my fault though!”  He quickly defends himself.  “Dirk told me to, and you knoww howw fast he is.”  You sigh softly but nod.

 

“It’s okay Eridan.”  You say.  “Do you knowv wvhere Feferi might havwe gone?”  You remember they were moirails when last you were home.

 

“Uh, maybe?”  He hesitates.  “She lovved the coral on the outside of the city.  And there wwere cavves there.”  He offers.

 

“Alright.  Then wve’ll go there.”  You nod at him.  Neither protest but Karkat bits his lip.  “Wve’ll get home soon Karkat.”  You promise here.  He nods lightly and you see Eridan’s jaw tighten, he doesn’t say anything.

 

You leave the cave, you holding Sollux and Eridan helping Karkat.  At first you think it’ll be hard to figure out where to go but then you give the water a sniff and you tense up.  You were expecting to smell blood, but you weren’t expecting to smell that _much_ blood. 

 

“What’s wrong?”  Karkat asks, looking between you and Eridan.  “And what’s that smell?  It’s fucking horrible.”

 

“Nothin’.”  You mumble.  “Come on.”  You start heading towards the source of the smell.  Karkat looks confused but he doesn’t say anything.

 

The trip takes a couple hours and you’re all silent throughout it.  You try not to look around too much, but what you do see is ruin and disarray.  Nothing’s the way you remember it and you feel a pang in your gut knowing that what you remember probably wasn’t even the same as what was destroyed.

 

 

You almost pass the coral field Eridan was talking about it’s so destroyed.  The only reason you don’t swim right passed it is because you notice the rubble that was once the gate into Skaia. 

 

“There’s no cavwes here.”  You frown as you look around.

 

“There has to be.”  Eridan frowns as well, looking around.  “Fef!”  He shouts and you quickly put a hand over his mouth.

 

“Eridan.”  You hiss.  “You don’t knowv if the Condesce got guards around here and I can promise ya that she aint gonna like a group of people with a claim ta the throne, let alone a Vwantas, chillin’ ‘round here.”  You warn.  “Wve gotta keep it dowvn.”  He nods, wide eyed, and you take your hand back.  Karkats shaking a bit, and you mentally curse yourself for adding him to list of reasons why you really can’t risk getting caught.

 

“The uh, cavve used to be ovver here.”  He mumbles, swimming over to a section of ground that doesn’t even have a pile of rubble anymore. 

 

“There’s a crack in the ground.”   Karkat comments.  You turn to him to sass him for it but then you see how large the crack is.  “She might have gone in there?”  He offers.

 

“I’ll check.”  You say, letting Eridan hold Sollux before swimming towards the crack.  You head inside.  It’s a little cramped but you’re sure Feferi would have had no trouble entering.

 

You swim down for what seems like ages and eventually you start doubting that Feferi came down here, but you continue to swim down looking for somewhere to turn around safely.  That somewhere turns out to be a large cavern and as you turn you freeze at the sight of the giant, terror white monster on the caverns other side. 

 

“Shit.”  You whisper. 

 

“Cronus?”  A quiet female voice asks. 

 

“Fef?”  You frown when you recognize the voice.  “Fef, shush, don’t wvake it.  Wvhere are you?”  You shush, trying to spot the girl.  You hear a giggle and the pink tailed princess swims over from behind the monster.

 

“It’s fine Cronus!  She won’t hurt us.”  She smiles.  “I thought you were dead.”  She adds with a frown.  “Everyone did.  Erifish was heartbroken.”  She mumbles and you sigh, pulling her into a hug. 

 

“The Cronus you knewv _is_ dead Fef.  I aint him and I nevwer felt comfortable being him.  I’m human… at least I wvas until a couple days ago.”  You sigh, looking down at the purple tail you’d regained.

 

“It’s okay if you’re human, even if you have a tail.”  Feferi smiles up at you and you smile back, ruffling her hair.  “How’d you find me?”

 

“Eridan said ya’d be in the cavwe round ‘ere and then wve found the crack and guessed ya wvere down here.  Howv’d ya get ‘ere?”  You reply.

 

“Well I was in the cave!  But then it was wrecked in the storm and I was being blown around, I found this crack though and then she was in here and she looked after me!”  Feferi smiles, gesturing to the monster.

 

“Ya sure it’s safe?”  You ask, eyeing the white beast cautiously.

 

“Of course!”  She smiles.

 

“Alright… all the same let’s get back up, alright doll?”  You agree.

 

“Okay.  I’m just going to go say goodbye.”  She says and you nod, watching her rush off to the monster.  You suppose you’re glad that at least one thing hasn’t changed.

 

 

When you get back up to the top you get see the boys and you frown, looking around for a moment before you hear it. 

 

“You saw ‘em to right?”  A guff voice says.  Quickly you duck back into the crack and pushing Feferi back down.

 

“No.  Clearly you got hit in the head.  There’s no way there’s humans around here.”  A second voice says. 

 

“Can uh, can you not mention that to the Empress?”  The first mumbles. 

 

“Maybe if you show me some respect blue tail.”  The second sounds like they’re smirking.

 

“Please sir.”  The first pleads.  Their voices get further away and you look around a few minutes later, letting yourself and Feferi out with a finger against your lips.  You look around again, hoping your brother notices the guards are gone.  Clearly he does because he swims out in the open and waves you over.  You and Feferi swim over.  Neither Feferi nor Eridan look directly at each other and you raise an eyebrow but then Eridan’s leading you down a drop off to where Karkat’s sitting with Sollux.

 

“Humans?”  Feferi frowns, looking to you confused. 

 

“Feferi, met Karkat Vwwantas, and the one currently knocked out is Sollux Captor.”  She gasps, looking from them to you with a huge grin. 

 

“Really?”  She asks.  “We’re saved!  I was starting to worry.”  She smiles.

 

“Uh…”  Karkat frowns, looking to you to handle this situation. 

 

“Wve’ll talk bout that later Fef.”  You sigh.  “For nowv wve wvere hopin’ you could help Sollux.”  You say, gesturing to the boy.  Feferi’s smile drops. 

 

“What’s wrong?”  She asks, swimming over. 

 

“He wvas knocked out a few days ago.”  You explain.  “I don’t knowv wvhy he wvon’t wvake up.”

 

“Well, I can try to help.”  She says, touching the boys temples.  She shuts her eyes and the two start to glow green.  Eridan and Karkat watch, Eridan worriedly and Karkat interestedly.  You, however, look away.  Magic has always made you feel uneasy.

 

You look back over when you hear a cough.  Sollux is sitting up and coughing as his gills and his mouth and nose work together for the first time.  Before he as simply breathing through his gills.

 

“Sol!”  Eridan shouts and hugs the boy tightly.  You smile softly at the action.

 

“Gee ED.”  Sollux rolls his eyes but he smiles and hugs back before he notices the rest of you are there and blushes a bit. 

 

“You fucking scared me you asswipe!”  Karkat shouts at him, glaring. 

 

“Nice to meet you!”  Feferi smiles.

 

“Glad ya okay.”  You smile.  “This is probably pretty wveird right nowv but I swvear I can explain.”

 

“Don’t bother.”  Sollux shakes his head.  “Mum did while I wath athleep.”


	16. Familiar Green

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a long chapter and theres some kissing at the add and my attempt at black flirting through out.  
> I am a strong signless/dualscar blackrom shipper

Porrim convinces you to wait out the ocean storm before returning to the water.  You spend the days anxious, but so do the others.  Kankri is quiet, still trying to accept what you’ve told him and trying not to worry about the other boys.  Porrim is always around, trying to get everyone to talk and relax even though she herself is not.  Damara is always flirting with her, and you, and Kankri.  You’d have called her out on it if not for the act that Porrim is completely aware and doesn’t seem to mind.

 

When the sky finally clears you head outside, hoping to do so before anyone else wakes up.  Unfortunately Kankri’s already sitting outside, on the top step with his feet in the water that flooded to the second.

 

“Kankri?”  You question and he doesn’t turn. 

 

“I want to go with you.”  He says, trying to sound firm and demanding but his voice and hands are shaking. 

 

“It’s too dangerous.”  You say, shaking your head.  “Not to mention you’d need a tail, and losing again will be incredibly painful.”

 

“I know.”  He says quickly, hesitating.  “Cronus told me how he got his legs.  I know it’ll be painful, and I know it’s dangerous.  But I can’t wait here for you and Cronus and Karkat and Sollux.”  He mumbles, shaking a bit.  You sigh and sit next to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and pulling him against you.

 

“Porrim’s going to follow me when she wakes up.”  You say.  “She and I both know I’ll need the back up of someone with space magic.  That will leave Damara alone, I don’t think that’s fair.  Not to mention Cronus will surely come back here looking for you, and if you’re not here he’ll think the worst.”

 

“I want to help though Father!”  Kankri snaps.  “This is Cronus’ home, your home.  I will not sit here and be useless.” 

 

“So you’d rather come with me and be useless?  Worse yet, in the way?”  You ask and he shuts up.  “You’ve never had a tail before, never held a weapon before, never used magic before.  You would simply be at risk.”  You tell him.  “Here you aren’t useless, here you can assure Cronus and the boys that everything will be fine, and make sure that Damara is safe as well.”  You say softly.

 

“But what if you don’t come back?”  Kankri mumbles.  “What if neither you or Cronus or Karkat or Sollux come home?” 

 

“Then ya’ll knowv they died heroes.  Honestly I don’t get what the problem ‘ere is.”  A voice you remember very, very well calls from the water and you instantly frown.

 

“Clearly you’re sill as insensitive as ever to human culture.”  You tell the mermaid now in Kankri’s front yard.

 

“If ya hadn’t run like a wvriggler ‘e wvon’t havwe been part of human culture.”  Donovan rolls his eyes at you.  “Wvhy does he knowv my sons name?”  You smirk at that. 

 

“You should ask your son that.”  You hum.  “I didn’t need you to pick me up, you know.”  You add.

 

“Yeah, wvell, I figured I wvas gonna havwe to talk your scaredy cat ass back into the wvater.”  He comments.

 

“Uh…”  Kankri says, looking between you two with confusion.

 

“Argh, you didn’t evwen teach ‘em proper romance, did ya?”  He rolls his eyes.  You decide to ignore him.

 

“Kankri, this is Cronus’ father.  Donovan.”  You introduce your son.  “Donovan, this is Kankri.”

 

“That’s Emperor Donovan thank you vwery much.”  He says with a pride filled tip of his chin.

 

“Right now you aren’t Emperor of anything but rubble if that storm was as bad as it looked.”  You tell him.  He doesn’t have a smart remark he can reply with.  You sigh and stand.  “Kankri, head inside, alright?  I promise you I’ll be home as soon as I can be.”  You smile at your son.  He hesitates before straightening his back.  He never was one to let strangers seen his weaker side.

 

“Alright.  But I do plan to hold you to that promise, as it can be very triggering for one to break a promise.  Especially one that is made on such important, life and death matters.”  He says.  It’s not as wordy as normal but it’s something and it makes you smile.  He’ll be okay.

 

“Silas, if you leave without me I will track you and I will hurt you.”  Porrim calls.

 

“Did ya havwe ta invite ya sister?”  Donovan groans.

 

“This is an end of the world situation Donovan, like I’m going to leave you alone with Silas so you can distract him.”  Porrim mocks with a smirk as she joins you.

 

“Excuse me?”  Kankri squeaks before standing and heading back inside before anyone can say another word.

 

“Damara will explain dear.”  Porrim tells him before smirking at you.  A very familiar ‘payback’ type of smirk.  You sigh and head into the ocean.

 

“Ya should probably removwe the pants.”  Donovan says.

 

“I’m not getting my tail yet.”  You roll your eyes back.  “We’re too close to Kankri for that to be safe.  You need to help us swim further away first.”

 

“Ya knowv, if ya just taught ‘im howv to use magic ya wvouldn’t ‘avwe ta wvorry.”  He tells you.

 

“That would’ve defeated the purpose of hiding.”  You reply.

 

“Oh right, I forgot ya wvanted to hide like a wvriggler, I keep forgetin’ ya _that_ pathetic.”  He mocks.

 

“Well, my fears _were_ confirmed, weren’t they?”  You smirk slightly when he has nothing more to say to that then a glare. 

 

“Boys.  Seriously.”  Porrim comments from ahead.  “Let’s go.”  She gestures to the horizon and you quickly catch up, getting in the water deep enough to dive beneath it.  The three of you begin to swim, yourself and Porrim slow compared to Donovan who eventually gets sick of it and grabs your wrist, along with your sisters, and pulls you both as he swims away from your son’s home. 

 

He stops once you’ve gone a good distance north east of the town and turns to face you, looking expectantly.

 

“Try not to look so impatient Donovan, one might think you’ve missed me.”  You tease.  Porrim swims a bit of a distance away from you both and you both turn your backs on her so she can have some privacy. 

 

“No, I just think ya look hideous with legs.”  Donovan mocks back. 

 

“Maybe I’ll keep them then.”  You say, even though you begin to remove your soaked shorts.

 

“You wvouldn’t do that.”  He says.  “Ya not cruel enough to risk evweryones safety just to spite me.”  He is, of course, right and you hate that he’s logical enough not to fall for your mockery.  Once theres nothing covering your legs you curse.  You forgot to bring a knife.  Donovan chuckles.  “Forget ya actually need to _cut_ ya legs Silie?”  He mocks, his tone condescending as he tacks on the rude nickname.  “Just like ya to rush in to the rescue wvithout thinkin’.” 

 

“Shut up, there’s surely a rock somewhere around here.”  You say, blushing a bit.  You’re about to swim off but he grabs your wrist and smirks, showing off the rows of pointed teeth he has.  They’re not natural, not completely. 

 

While mermaids had, and needed, sharper teeth than humans, the Condesce had changed the artificially born children during her reign.  Meddling with genetics she’d given her subjects sharper teeth and nails the higher up she believed them to be that grew in during puberty.  Yours had been left even duller than an average mermaids but Donovan had gotten the sharpest of the bunch.  After the Condesce had been overthrown a vaccine had gone around for younger Alternians that killed off the cells that would cause the change, and some of the older ones had chosen to file down their teeth and nails in order to rid more marks of the Condesce’s original reign.  Donovan, apparently, was not one of those trolls.

 

“Don’t even think about it.”  You growl and he chuckles. 

 

“I ‘avwe no idea wvhat ya talkin’ bout.”  He smirks.  You let out a shout when you feel his nail cut open the scar on your legs and the magnetic feeling of the two being pushed together before two becomes one.  You look down and find the red tail you haven’t had in years formed just beneath your black shirt.  You sigh and pull that off, it would just slow you down. 

 

“Can we turn around?”  You call to Porrim. 

 

“Yes, I’ve had a tail for ages compared to you, honestly Silas.”  Porrim sighs as you both turn to face her.  “Where to now?”

 

“The crowvn.”  Donovan answers.  “She’s got ‘er trident but not the crowvn.  Wve spread the rumour that I gavwe the crowvn to Prospit and Derse kings ta hide as a sign of loyalty, wvhich obvwiously I wvon’t’vwe givwen the crowvn to someone not Alternian.”  You roll your eyes.  For someone who had helped overthrow the empress and create a united nation, as Porrim explained, Donovan was an incredible traditionalist.  “The point is, it meant that’s wvho the old ‘ag focused on wvhen she attacked.”  He explains.

 

“So where is it?”  You ask.

 

“That’s…”  He hesitates to answer, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck.  “I told ‘em that I’d givwen it ta you.  Wvhich can be argued wvasn’t too far from the truth.”  He stalls.  “Just… there’s somethin’ ya don’t knowv and knowv its completely ya owvn fault for fucking off to no one fuckin’ knewv wvhere until I smelt red blood in the ocean wvhen ya opened ya gills.”  You frown at that.

 

“What?  I didn’t do that in the ocean.”  You frown. 

 

“Yes, ya did.”  He rolls his eyes.  “A little wvay from the house.  There wvas yellowv blood too.”

 

“Sollux and Karkat.”  You say, relaxing a bit.  “Cronus must have cut open their gills open.”  You reason, though you’re surprised to hear he did so near the house and yet didn’t return home.

 

“Wvhy wvould my boy be wvith your brats?”  Donovan glares at you.

 

“Not the time.”  Porrim states, giving you a look that shuts you up despite how badly you want to tell Donovan about Kankri and Cronus being married, if only to piss him off.  “Lead us to the crown.”  She tells the other.  Donovan holds her gaze for a moment before leading you both down and away.

 

 

Despite the much faster pace you set now that you all have tails, the trip still takes a very long time before your floating in front of a cave.  The water’s pressure has increased greatly and you’re close enough to where Porrim told you Skaia city was to make a round trip in a day, but it’s still well hidden.

 

“It’s in ‘ere.”  He states needlessly after stopping in front of the entrance.

 

“No guards?” Porrim questions.

 

“There are guards of a sort.”  He says.  “But the cavwe needs ta be secure.  I’m the only one that leavwes it.” 

 

“Who would agree to that?”  You frown.

 

“They wvere raised ‘ere.”  Donovan answers.  “I figured you wvouldn’t wvant anyone knowvin’ bout them.  Too bad you’d fucked off before I found ‘em.”

 

“Excuse me?”  You frown.  He doesn’t answer you, just keeps swimming.  Porrim looks over to you with a raised eyebrow. 

 

The inside of the cave is a maze but Donovan leads well, or at least you hope he does.  Eventually he stops.

 

“Girls!”  He calls.  “I’m back!”  You frown deeper before a mermaid with a familiar green tail dashes out and hugs him. 

 

“Uncle Donovan!”  The girl says.  “You’re okay!  Meowlin said she felt the aura you were talking about, but the crown is purrfectly fine I purrmise!”  She tells him and you freeze, staring at the short haired girl.

 

“Who’s Meowlin?”  You ask, turning not to look too hopeful as you look between the girl and Donovan. 

 

“Meulin.” Donovan confirms it and you almost can’t believe it.  You think your heart stops a moment.

 

“Then… this… Nepeta?”  You address the girl who frowns and narrows her eyes at you. 

 

“Yes, who’re you?”  She asks.  You can’t fight the grin on your face, even if she doesn’t know who you are. 

 

“I… my name is Silas.”  You introduce yourself, still smiling.  Her eyes widen at the name and you hold out your hand.  “I’m your-“

 

“Dad.”  She finishes your sentence for you, not moving.

 

“Yes.”  You smile.  “I, I thought you were-“  She cuts you off again, this time by pouncing on you.  You laugh and hug her back tightly.  You thought she was dead.  You thought your daughters had perished with their mother by you are currently holding the girl who had been ‘hatched’ mere weeks before your wife died, months before you had won the war.  She’s alive, alive and well.

 

“Wvhere’s Meulin?”  Donovan interrupts the moment. 

 

“Her room.”  Nepeta says, letting you go from the hug only to pull you through the corridors.  You make no attempt at escape, following her until you reach a door.  It’s only now that you realize how alike the inside of the cave is to a house, large enough to be a mansion at least.  Your daughter doesn’t knock before opening the door and once it’s open you see a girl in the room with her back to you.  Her appearance makes you freeze as Nepeta swims up and taps her shoulder. 

 

She looks so much like her mother and it brings a pang of grief rushing back.

 

But then she turns around and looks at you and her eyes widen and you’re being held by our eldest daughter for the first time in years and the grief leaves you, replaced with joy as you laugh again.  She pulls back to smile at you.  She was 5 when you lost her and now she’s 23, a young woman.  You missed everything, her childhood and teenage years but she’s still happy to see you.  You smile and kiss her forehead like you once did when she was little.  She brings her hands up to her chest and begins to move them.

 

“She says she’s happy to see you.”  Nepeta tells you from your left.  You smile is replaced by a look of concern.  “Meulin’s deaf, but she can read lips really well!”  Nepeta says.

 

“What happened?”  You ask after the first wave of surprise.  Meulin’s hand start moving and you watch them intently.  You know sign language, after all you grew up hiding with everyone the Condesce considered unfit and culling worthy; that included mermaids with disabilities including being deaf or mute.

 

“She says-“  Nepeta starts. 

 

“You don’t need to tell me, it’s alright.”  You smile over to her.  “I learnt sign language as a boy.”  Nepeta seems surprised but smiles and nods.  You turn your attention back to Meulin, who had waited patiently while you spoke to Nepeta. 

 

_‘The night mum went to rescue you and we were hiding in the cave Karkitty was crying and I couldn’t get him to be quiet!  Mituna took him and Sollux for a swim to try to calm him down but while they were one we heard so people approaching so I got Kankri to hide and I grabbed Nepurrta but they found us before I could hide!  We were taken away but I didn’t see the boys anywhere.  When mum was killed they were going to kill me next but then the indigo troll couldn’t do it, he let me and Nepurrta go!!!  But the big purple one saw and he shouted really, really loud.  I had to swim really fast and we head away from everyone.  I wanted to find you but I didn’t know how!  Uncle Donovan found us a while later, but he said you’d left by then and no one knew where you went.’_

 

She’s fast when her hands and incredibly expressive.  The way she spells out Karkat and Nepeta’s names just to make puns of them is adorable, in your opinion, though you think her signing of death might be a bit too causal.  You’re not surprised though, you suppose, with all the time she must have spent with Donovan.

 

You’re impressed she remembers so much.  Kankri, Sollux, and Karkat had all been too young when you hid them with the land witch to remember anything of the water, and Mituna had forgotten everything after his accident, or at least you believe he had.  Yet here your eldest daughter is retelling a story of her 5th year in life, even if it included things you think are best forgotten.

 

“I’m so proud of you for looking after your sister.”  You tell her, smiling and signing as you speak.  “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there to protect you.  I thought I’d lost you along with your mother.  If I’d know I would have been here in a heartbeat.”

 

‘ _I know._ ’  She smiles as she signs back and you huge her again, pulling Nepeta into the hug. 

 

“Sorry ta interrupt but the crowvn.”  Donovan says from the door, oice softer tha he normally lets you hear it. 

 

“Right.”  You say, kissing both your daughters on the head before letting go of them.  “Lead the way.”  You tell him, following Donovan out of the room as Porrim enters it to introduce herself to her nieces.

 

Donovan leads you to a door but before he opens it he pushes you against a wall and kisses you hard, biting you lip.  You’re taken a back a bit before you kiss back just as harshly. 

 

“What was that for?”  You ask with a smirk when he pulls away.

 

“So ya don’t think this wvas a red gesture.”  He growls.  “Cause it ain’t.  Ya pathetic, careless, idealistic, and ya run awvay from almost every fight or ya talk and take punches.  I don’t hate ya any less than I alwvays had, but that don’t mean I wvas gonna risk any ‘arm comin’ to ya girls.  You owve me.”  He emphasises the last part with another bruising kiss.

 

“Don’t worry.”  You assure.  “I wasn’t under any impression the action was red.” 

 

“Good.”  He says, letting go of you and entering the room.

 

The room houses shelf upon shelf of items, books, and everything.  He leads you through the mess to the crown with the magically powered pink gem on its centre and he picks it up.

 

“Nowv wve wve just gotta find someone wvho can wvear it.”  He says, handing it to you.  “A Serket or a Nitram wvould probably do.  Or one of the ‘ag’s kids.”

 

“Or a Captor.”  You breathe as you look at the crown with more magical power than most can handle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone wants a list of the kids ages in the next update let me know in the comments of at my tumblr:  
> amuseandbored.tumblr.com


	17. Pale Yellow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now set years into the past

It feels like the storms been raging for hours, days even.  There’s too much water on the deck and you know that it’s going to go under, there’s no way it can’t at this point with the size of the waves and the way its tipping.  You take a deep breath and look around, looking for a knife so you can try to prepare. 

 

“Mituna!”  You call for your son.  His head snaps to you from where he is trying to get the after out of your boat, even if the task is fruitless.  You open your mouth to tell him to come over when a large wave comes and flips the boat over.  Quickly you shut your mouth and wait for the rushing, twirling sensation to stop. 

 

It feels so off but you ignore it in favour of trying to find your son.  When you spot him, holding his breath and looking around frantically, you waste no time in swimming over.  His eyes snap to you and he’s holding something sharp that he pushes to your neck.  All this time you thought your son had forgotten after what happened and here he is gesturing for you to open your gills.  You decide to be upset later, taking the object and opening your gills with a practiced ease.  It’s not the first time you’ve been over board.  You take deep breaths, making sure to breathe out through your gills first rather than fill your lungs with water the way it will if your body doesn’t close off your oxygen needing lungs. 

 

“Thankth Tuna.”  You say, going to open his.  Before you can the ocean tumbles again and it’s all you can do to grab your son before you lose all sense of direction until you end up in the front of a cave with the same pull of any crossing between the dreambubbles and the real world.  The sharp object, maybe a knife you’re not sure, was pulled from your hand during the last tumble and you’re sure it’s getting hard for Mituna to hold his breath so you pull him towards it, he tries to pull away and you look over to see him open his mouth and taking a lungful of water so you pull him faster.  There’s no time to get to the surface, but the bubble is right here and inside you can breathe with gills or lungs it doesn’t matter.

 

You haven’t used your powers in years, avoiding the dreambubbles even in your dreams, but it’s still as easy as breathing to slip through the membrane of bubbles only ever inhabited by ghosts, doom mages, and one prisoner kept in a dream bubble that only connects to the real world and not any others.  You hear a whimper from Mituna after he’s caught his breath and you frown.  You’ve never been in this dreambubble before.

 

“Whale, whale, whale.”  You tense up at the voice.  No.  Please no.  “Looks like a couple of fishes swam right into my net.”

 

“Fitheth aint a word.”  You growl, even though you’re shaking.  You need to get Mituna out of here.

 

“Don’t manta(ray) angelfish.”  She says, a cruelty and anger in the dismissal of your words despite her childish speech patterns.  “I bet you’re wonderin’ how I caught my slippery little eel.”

 

“Couldn’t care leth.”  You tell her, moving closer to Mituna who’s shaking like a leaf.  The ex-empress growls at you and you feel a sharp slap to your face that you think leaves scratches and blood.  It just pisses her off more.

 

“How dare ya this to yaself.”  She snaps.  “How dare ya do this to _Mituna_.  Ya call yaself a father all the whale doin’ somefin like this.”  You flinch and Mituna whimpers, curling up against your side and murmuring into your side.  You shush him lightly, wrapping an arm around him.  “But that’s fin, I can fish this.”  She says, once more calm and relaxed or at least acting it.

 

“Don’t you dare.”  You growl, trying to move closer to only way in and out.

 

“Swim that by me again angelfish, it almost sounded like you tried to tell _me_ what to do.”  She says and you gulp the warning ringing clear in your head after all the years you lived with this woman.

 

You decide to make a break for it.

 

You pick up Mituna and run, or swim really with the dreambubble feeling like the ocean, to the entrance, trying to slip past with your Doom powers.  She watches with a smirk when nothing happens.

 

“Honestly angelfish, idda thought ya were smarter than that.  Those urchins must reely have been bad for ya.”  She laughs and you tense.  “Nothin’ gets outta ‘ere fishcake.  Whale, not until you break me out.” 

 

“Break you out?  How do you expect me to break you out if I can’t even get out?”  You ask, starting to shake.  You can’t be trapped in here.  Not with her.

 

“This little… tank a’ mine, is strong but enough magic over enough time or a weak spot and we’ll be ‘ome free.”  She grins, stalking over to you.  Mituna presses himself closer to you as she does.  “Just like that little storm I created up there.  Enough time and I created the ocean magic storm that drew ya right ta me when I released it with ya so close by.”  She chuckles and takes your chin in her hand but you flinch away. 

 

“I’m not going to help you ethcape.”  You claim.  She takes your chin again, harsher, and forces you to look at her.

 

“I think ya will.  ‘Cause fishcake either you do it or imma make our boy do it.  I think maybe, just maybe, he’s got enough energy to pop the bubble even if the backlash kills him.”  She smirks and Mituna whimpers.  You know she’ll do it though, and you know she’s probably right.  Magic has draw backs, use too much and it will kill you, and unlike Life and Breath theres no counter with Doom magic that will help you live if you get close to using too much.  Mituna is very, very close.

 

You glare at her for a good few more minutes before your shoulders slump.  You can’t risk Mituna’s safety.  The victory grin she gets makes you feel sick. 

 

“Good.  Now lets get ya fixed up first.”  She chuckles.

 

She knows it will only take a nip and a few seconds for your legs to become a tail but she trails her sharp nail up to reopen the whole scar anyway, tinting the water pale yellow as the magic fades awa from your disguise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Magic in this does have a canon i swear.   
> There's aspect magic, of which mermaids pick one and then can sometimes do others as well. Using too much of this causes negative effects, expect more aspect magic uses have a counter they can use: ie. some life users can steal life. 
> 
> There is elemental magic that only some people have, which is cool on its own but when mixed with aspects it kicks ass. Condy has water magic and life magic, meaning storms above and below the ocean are childs play. Most dont actually know Condy has water magic though.
> 
> Then theres human magic which is broad and confusing and all the mermaids really know about it is that this one time there was that one witch that changed young mermaids into humans without leaving a scar and then was later killed by Condy.


	18. Hopeless Grey

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This time we're only a couple days behind the 15th chapter.  
> Also short chapter is short.

“You know, my money was on Meenah ending the world.”  Dirk says, trying to break the nervous silence you’ve all settled into as the storm rages on outside the deep hole you’re hidden away in.

 

“Mine too.”  Meenah huffs.  “Instead it was Arenea, _Arenea_ , of all people.”

 

“She didn’t even care that Vriska was pushed into the storm.”  Jade mumbles.

 

“Do you think Vriska’s okay?”  Meenah asks, voice a lot smaller now.

 

“It’s unlikely.”  Dirk eventually answers after no one can bring themselves to lie to Meenah.  There’s almost no way Vriska survived what’s raging outside the cave. 

 

You’re not sure how to feel about it.  On one hand Vriska is your ex-moirail and ex-matesprite, and that clusterfuck of quadrants ended terrible.  On the other hand Vriska had been becoming a better person since getting close to Jade and Meenah she’d been becoming beer person, and acting like a mermaid being that wasn’t just an asshole.  Now whatever person she could have become had been stopped in its tracks.

 

It wasn’t even a heroic or just death, not a death to be proud of.

 

So you’re not sure how you’re supposed to feel.  You’re not even sure how you _do_ feel.  You think you just feel kind of numb.

 

Dave might be dead, and he’s not he’s right in the ex-Empress’ palm.  You’re not sure which would be worse considering your best friends tail and blood colour.  Your Dad might be dead, and if not he’s certainly in the Condesce’s palm.  Bro is certainly in the woman’s palm, even if he managed to kill those guards.

 

The knowledge leaves you numb.  You can’t do anything to help.  You draw your tail closer to your chest.

 

“He’ll be fine.”  Roxy’s voice makes you jump a little, she’s smiling and she squeezes your good hand softly.  You’re not sure which ‘he’ she’s talking about but it brings a fourth boy to your mind.

 

“Do…. Do you think that the storm reached the surface?”  You ask worriedly and she frowns a moment.

 

“Well… probably, I mean there might’ve been some tidal waves, maybe some heavy rain and flooding.”  She shrugs and you tense at the thought.

 

Karkat lives close to the ocean.  He could be dead.  Karkat could be dead like everyone else you care about.  You draw your tail up ever closer.

 

It goes silent again but for the noise outside.  You think you managed to sleep for a while but nothing changes will you do so you aren’t sure.

 

“Do you think Dad and King Strider are okay?”  Jade eventually voices your thoughts.

 

“Yes.”  Dirk answers quickly.  “She’s not going to kill them if they knew something.” 

 

“She don’t need tuna ‘em.”  Meenah mumbles. 

 

“That’s not helping Meenah.”  Roxy snaps.

 

“Yeah, ‘cause sayin’ Vriska is dead kelps so much.”  Meenah glares.

 

“She wouldn’t be if you hadn’t let go.”  Roxy mumbles and you see Meenah’s fists clench and her mouth open.  This isn’t going well.

 

“Guys, stop it!”  You shout, drawing their attention to you instead of each other.  “I get it.”  You say, softer.  “You’re upsets and it’s not been a great few days.  We don’t know where a lot of people are and we don’t know if anyone outside this cave is alive.  So let’s not fight each other and make it worse, okay?”  You say.  The girls grumble but give in and the silence returns again.

 

You look away from everyone and into the hopeless grey of the cave walls and hope that Karkat, Dave, and your Dad are okay despite everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY GUYS HERES SOME FAIR WORRY THAT I BLAME ON HAVING GORE IN THIS. BECAUSE ITS NOT ANGSTY ENOUGH AND THEREFORE LOOK OUT FOR THAT STARTING IN THE NEXT CHAPTER.


	19. Shattered Red

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm hella fucking tired and therefore i hope this chapter is okay.
> 
> PLEASE LOOK AT THE NEW TAGS THIS CHAPTER AINT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART. IF YOU HAVE A FAINT HEART I'LL PUT A SUMMARY AT THE END.  
> Also someone asked for nice Makaras. I hope I delivered.

You were a fool, a fool and a trickster who’d lied to yourself.  You had never truly recovered from your imprisonment as a young man and now, years later, you were reliving the nightmare you had refused to admit still haunted you.  You’re alone in the cell, and you have been since you awoke, it’s dark, it’s cold.  You don’t want to admit it, but you’re terrified.

 

It feels like hours before the cell door opens and a large mermaid with a purple tail swims in.  You float elegantly, as monotone as Derick is famed to be, as he comes over.  You contemplate an escape attempt but you can still feel the weakness in your body from the witches attack, the pain in your shoulder, and you don’t know if the storm is still raging outside.  Besides, your family could be in the other cells and you need to know that.  With those thoughts in mind you don’t react as the mermaid swims over and harshly takes your wrists, pressing them against your back.

 

“You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to put you in your place blue tail.”  The mermaid grins as he brings to push you, abnormally sharp nails digging into your skin, jolting your shoulder and causing you to wince.  You sigh at the mention of the old racism so beloved by those who had everything in a system where the colour of your tail and blood could raise or lower you.  You choose to ignore him and swim ahead with as much pride as you can.  You can guess where you’re going and you hope you’re wrong.

 

You’re not wrong and you soon find yourself in what was once a shared throne room.  Instead of the three thrones that were once positioned in the centre there is now only one, and _she_ sits on it, smirk clear on her lips and her trident in hand.

 

“Hello James.”  She smirks but you ignore her.  She gestures to the guard still holding you and he roughly shoves you through the water towards her but you recover quickly and look around out of the corner of your eye.  You tense when you notice Derick, bloodied and bruised and restrained by two guards against the wall.  He’s panting a bit and glaring at her.  “So nice of you to join us.”  The witch cackles and you look back to her.

 

“Get out of Donovan’s throne.”  You say, voice as calm as ever.  You’re not sure how you manage to keep it calm in front of this woman who terrifies you.  She laughs again and makes a gesture.  The purple blood behind you yanks your head back by the hair roughly and you gasp at the pain that flares.

 

“Get this right pretty bouy,” She says, tail swishing as she swims towards you, barely in sight of your angled head.  “Aint no fish gon be on a throne but _me_.  Aint no thrones, tridents, and definitely aint no _crowns_ that belong to anyfish else.  Got it?”  She growls, and you her claws beginning to dig into the holes in your shoulder.

 

“Then don’t hold a fork ta the guy that knows where ya oh so precious crown is.”  Derick growls.  One of the guards holding him punches him across the face and your heart breaks a little seeing it.

 

“Shut it mutant, I don’t think ya could survive a’nother round.”  The witch growls and he growls back. 

 

“He isn’t a mutant, how moronic do you have to be to not consider how other cultures may develop?”  You say, still keeping the shake out of your voice.  You know it’s not a smart thing to say by the attentions on you now, not Derick.  You’re also not sure he could survive another beating. 

 

“The fuck you just call me?”  The witch growls and makes a gesture to the purple blood who quickly let you go and rushes away.  Her hand slaps across your cheek and she grabs your chin quickly after, the trident being brought to your eyes.  “You don’t need to see to tell me where the crown is.”  She threatens and you tense, causing her to smirk.  “Or I could just pull out your tongue and you wouldn’t be able to spew such bullshit again.”  She adds, the hand holding the trident moving to run her claws over your lips. 

 

A second late you cry out as the trident is lunged into your tail. 

 

“Consider this your fish and oily warnin’.”  She smirks, twisting the trident slightly before pulling it out and causing you to cry out again.  “Don’t disrespect ya Empress or next time it’ll be the eyes _and_ the tongue.”  She instructs.  You can’t swim without causing yourself pain so you sink to the floor.  You dare not look to Derick now, instead trying to school the pain, the fear, out of your eyes while staring at the 4 injuries in your tail.

 

“Now.”  The witch says, swimming gracefully back to the throne.  “Let’s get onto the location of my crown.

 

You dare not so much as hint as to knowing where the location is.

 

Hours or days or weeks or minutes pass and you remain as tight lipped as Derick.  You can’t picture your natural skin colour, nor Dericks, and there’s enough blue and orange blood in the water to colour it as she goes between the two of you.  You keep your mouth shut.  It hurt to watch Derick be hurt but you know he can handle it, would kick your tail for telling him for his sake, and vice versa.  It keeps you strong until someone knocks on the door.

 

“What?”  The Empress snaps, shouting.  The door falters then opens and a group of blue and green tails enter, holding a struggling blond whose familiarity makes you freeze.  You way the head of the group bow before speaking.

 

“W-we found the ex-royal night in the stable rumble your empress.”  He speak, nervousness clear in his tone.  The witch glares then looks between you and Derick and smirks. 

 

“Good job.  Bring him to me.”  The boy looks panicked, less schooled then his brothers in hiding his emotions.  He’s dragged towards the witch and she grabs him, clawed hands around his chest and the second on his neck.  “That annoyance, whats ‘er face, Area or some shit?  Said there was a red tailed royal, that wouldn’t ‘appen to be you, ay gubby?”  She crackles in his ear.  Dave struggles in her grasp, the teenager’s voice lost in his fear.  “Imma take that as a posifish.”

 

“Let him go.”  You growl, doubting staying silent would make things better for Dave.  Naturally, she just ignores you, laughing at Dave’s struggling.  You don’t think the blond here’s you.

 

“I aint gonna hurt ya gubby.  Least, not if these two bouys tell me what I want to know.”  Dave notices you both then, Derick only needing to be held by a singular guard now and you unable to swim and remaining sunk on the floor, although the trident stabbed through your fin is also helping that cause.  You think his panic gets worse.

 

“Bro?  King James?”  The second the question is out of his mouth the witch presses her claws into his chest and Dave lets out a hiss of pain.

                                                                                                                              

“He aint no king gubby.”  She growls in his ear.  “I’m the one in charge here.”  She pulls her claws out and drags them down to Dave’s tail.  “And they’re gonna listen ta me or watch ya sufferer the consequences.”  She smirks.  You tense up.  You can’t tell her. 

 

Dave shouts as she digs into his tail as pulls a scale out.  A guard comes and collects the scale when she discards it in disgust.

 

“I aint stopping until ya speak up.”  She chuckles, moving onto the second.  You look to Derick and catch a glimpse of him watching expressionless before someone forces your head back to the scene ahead.  She’s pulling the second out and Dave’s trying his hardest not to scream again.  The third one snaps as she takes it and she chuckles out an ‘opps’ as she pulls out the other shattered red half.  This time Dave screams.

 

You can’t take watching the poor boy suffer anymore.

 

“Stop!”  You shout.  “I’ll tell you.”  You haven’t got a clue what to claim for a moment and you hesitate.  Her claw gets closer to the fourth scale.  “Silas.”  You shout.  “I gave it to Silas before he went to the shore.”  Her face goes from sick enjoyment to anger. 

 

“You gave my crown to that rebel scum?”  She stabs.  “On the fuckin’ shore?!”  She pulls the sword from the guard that took the scales.  “If ya like that shore so much why don’t ‘ave legs?”  She proclaims and you shout a protest that she ignores, shoving the sword through Daves tail and dragging it down, splitting the limb in half.  Dave screams bloody murder and your heart stops.

 

She swims over to you and smirks.  “This is why I’ve always rathered Derse.  Its citizens don’t put affection over everyfin.”  She mocks, looking over to Derick whose staring at Dave.  “I aint got time for you.”  She adds, pulling her trident out and causing you to hiss.  She brings the blunt edge against your head and everything goes black.

 

 

 

You wake up back in a cell, possibly the cell.  You’re not alone though, you’re leaning against a toned, warm form and you look over and relax when you see Derick looking down at you.  You freeze when you remember Dave.

 

“Where’s D-“ You begin to ask, worried.

 

“Guard took him.”  Derick grumbles.  You hope he’s okay.

 

“This is all my fault, I should have kept my mouth shut.”  You mumble.

 

“Ya think?”  Derick growls.  “What were you thinking?  What if the crown really is with Silas?” 

 

“It’s not going to be.  Silas wouldn’t’ve taken it.”  You answer.

 

“How do you know that?”  Derick glares.

 

“Because he came and said goodbye.”  You sigh.  Silas, Simon, and Mituna had disappeared into the night with almost no one knowing.  You think that Silas told Donovan, and you assume Simon spoke with Derick, but Silas came to say goodbye to you.  Well, he came to ask if you wanted to join him.  Of course you refused, you are about your moirail but you could not abandon your kingdom.  “He told me he was leaving all of this behind, taking the crown would have gone accident all of that.” 

 

“Are you sure?”  Derick demands.

 

“Yes Derick.”  You snap before sighing.  You don’t have a right to be mad right now.  “I’m sorry.”  You say softly, burying your head in his shoulder.  He sighs and wraps an arm around you, careful not to touch the wounds in your shoulder.

 

“It’s not your fault.”  He says softly.  “Dave’ll be alright, it’s an old fashion way of splitting a tail but it is survivable.”

 

“Only if his tail dries out.”  You remind him.  “And it’s permanent.”  You add quietly. 

 

“He’s going to be okay.”  Derick says softly.  You feel his lips press against the top of your head and you relax a little despite yourself.  “Are you okay?”  You’re not, neither of you are.

 

“I’ll be fine.”  You say all the same.  You know he doesn’t believe you but he doesn’t call you out.  You both remain silent for a while until you hear the door open.  You wince slightly when Derick pulls you closer to him.

 

The man that comes in has a purple tail and he’s huge.  You frown slightly, recognizing the person but not being able to place his face for a moment.  When you do your eyes widened and you press yourself against Derick until you hear him hiss slightly.

 

“Calm the motherfuck down.”  The merman chuckles.  “I aint gonna hurt ya.”  His voice is quieter than you remember it being.

 

“I doubt that.”  Derick growls.  Out of the corner of your eye you see the man shrug.

 

“Guess that’s fair brother, I mean I aint exactly been a motherfucking angel over the years.”  He hums.  “Thing is though, I really aint here to hurt ya.  Figured I should let you know that the motherfuck who all up and took your lil bro off everyone’s hands was my son.”  The knowledge makes you more nervous and you can feel Derick tense up.  “Aint a motherfuckin’ thing ta worry bout though cause those two should be up by the shore by now.”  He says and you frown.

 

“What?”  You ask, not turning to face the man.

 

“Seems the two got to motherfuckin’ know each other, and my little miracle aint wantin’ that one ta die.”  He hums.  “Figured y’all would want to motherfuckin’ know and all that shit.”

 

“How are we meant to believe you?”  Derick asks.

 

“You aint gotta.”  The man shrugs.  “Thing is though it aint the only thing I got ta all up and tell ya.  Thing is, lot of the guys round here prefer you motherfuckers to that witch.  So don’t be thinkin’ you aint got support.  We got ya backs.”  He hums.  He comes closer and places something in front of you before leaving again.

 

“I don’t trust him.”  You say after a bit, pulling a bit away from Derick just a bit.  The man brought food and you can see some medical supplies. 

 

“Yeah, me neither.”  Derick sighs.  “But I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.”  He says, taking the medical supplies and turning to you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter Bro (Derick) and Dad Egbert (James) are beaten up by Condy who wants to find the Crown from that chapter with the Leijons. She thinks Derick and James have cause they all spread that gossip. Hours later Dave's brought in by a few guards and Condy starts to use him to try to get James and Derick to speak. She pulls out a few of his scale and James can't bare to see Dave hurt anymore so tells Condy that Silas has the crown on shore. Enraged, she cuts Dave tail in half and then knocks out James.
> 
> James wakes up in a cell with Derick but no Dave. Shortly after GBH (his names Grant but thats not mentioned) comes in and tells them that Gamzee took Dave to the shore to dry out his tail so it'll become legs and he wont die. He then lets them know they have support in the castle and leaves them with medical supplies.


	20. Disgusting Green

Land should be flooded and sunk into the waves, into your domain and your rule.  The red blooded disgraces that walk it should be drowned and the world freed from their existence.  The mermaids that hide from you on its disgusting green haven should be returned to you and dealt with how you see fit.  They should not have somewhere to go where you will not follow.

 

Unknown to them, apparently, you are fully capable of following them to the shore.  Normally they aren’t worth our gaze though, let alone your time.  However, this mutant blooded mistake that believes he can take _your_ crown and leave _your_ ocean has drawn your attention.  You smelt the red blood spilt days ago, but you had sent the storm so you didn’t check on the scent.  Now you go to the places the blood had come from.  The second spillage was only in clear water, but the second one that had been harder to find was in sight of a shoreline.  With a smirk you swim towards it.  You do not expect to find the mutation you want but you expect to find something you can use against his pathetic metaphorically bleeding heart.

 

“Shello?”  You call when you find the singular house with noises coming from it.  The water goes right up to the front steps now, and you’re glad that it means you don’t have to reduce yourself to gaining legs.

 

“Whose there?”  A male voice asks as a boy, barely out of his gubby years you think, leaves the house.  He’s the spitting image of your prey.  He looks surprised to see you, but not to see the tail.  You barely stop yourself from smirking.  “Hello, are you alright?  Are you hurt?  There’s been some awful weather and although I do feel the need to mention that it’s not safe for you to approach a human, as most wouldn’t understand your appearance, I can assure you that I am not at all surprised and so if you are in need of assistance I can certainly lead you some.  My name is Kankri Vantas who might you be?”  He offers and you have to keep from grimacing.  He talks more than the pathetic excuse of a mermaid that you assume is his father.

 

“Condy, Condy Piexes but I aint hurt gubby.”  You say.  “But I wash wondering, does Silas Vantas float ‘ere?”  You ask, trying to come off as non-threatening as you swim closer to where he’s standing on the final step.  This is too easy.

 

“I uh, I assume you mean does he live here?  That’s not quite the arrangement.  This is my house which I share with my husband, Cronus Ampora.  Silas, however, is my father and he was here just a few days ago.  He left with another mermaid, by the name of Donovan I believe.”  He informs you and you grin. 

 

“Ya don’t say.”  You say and you see him eyeing the door.  You can’t have that, however and you grab his ankles.  You have all the information you need from him.  He couldn’t be more perfect bait.  The boy lets out a shout as you pull him into the water.  He hits his head on the stairs and you smirk, perfect.  You run your clawed finger along his neck, opening the first slit of his gills.  You’ve barely done that before a girl runs out of the house and begins to shout in a language you never took the energy to learn.  She goes to attack but you duck out into the ocean, pulling your prisoner with you.  The girl continues to shout but she makes a grave mistake.  She follows you into the ocean.  You laugh.

 

“Moronic pest.”  You mock, calling your trident and controlling the waves.  The girl looks around in panic as you call a storm surrounding her.  She ducks under water but you know it won’t help.  You laugh to yourself and begin to swim away.

 

You stop when you feel a tug at your bait.  You turn and frown when you see the girl pulling at the mermaid in your arms.

 

“Ya a ‘ard fish ta fry, ay?”  You growl.  She doesn’t speak, she’s clearly holding her breath.  You could just wait her out.  But considering how she escape your storm you assume she’s not completely human.  This, of course, is why you have a weapon.

 

You use the bait the tug her close and you use your other hand to shove the trident into her stomach.  You see her eyes gone wide and her blood spills into the ocean.  She gasps and water fills whatever’s left of the lungs you’re sure you’ve punctured.  You haven’t skewed her heart, you know that, and you know she’s going to die slowly. 

 

It makes you grin.

 

You pull way, just far enough that she can’t reach you, and you finish opening the gills of the knocked out bait in her hands before you strip the cloth from his disgusting legs and cut them open, replacing them with a red tail that almost, but not quite, as disgusting as the legs were.  You go over and finally pull your trident from the stomach of the girl and watch the last bit of life slip from her eyes before cackling as you leave. 

 

When your bait walks he’s strung up in your throne room, his legs replaced, he thrushes and you smirk, it’s time to get the word out.


	21. Cloudy Yellow

You’re happy for the first time in years.  You’re currently swimming through a city of rubble but you’re happy.  You’re daughters are _alive_.  Alive and well and happy.  They don’t hate you for what happened, for not being there.

 

“Silas, focus.”  Donovan growls from your side, pulling you into what was left of a building a few minutes before a group of soldiers swim passed.  “Fa fuck’s sake Vwantas, you’re going to get your ass dragged to the empress if ya keep actin’ like this.”  He growls.

 

“The witch.”  You reply calmly.

 

“The wvhat?”  He hisses.

 

“The witch.  She is no empress so if you don’t want to call her Condy then at least call her witch instead of empress.”  You tell him, a simple thing you’d learnt from your mother as a child. 

 

“Wvhatevwer.  Just pay attention.”  Donovan mumbles, leaving the safety on the mostly destroyed building to lead you through the next few destroyed streets.  Porrim had stayed with Nepeta and Meulin, mostly to make sure they didn’t follow you, so now it’s just yourself and Donovan traveling through the destroyed Skaian city.  From what you can make out of the rubble it must have been an impressive city, at least for one not even 17 years old.  You’re a little disappointed you didn’t see the city in its prime, now it looks almost as if you had never left the ocean, if not for the lack of even temporary homes. 

 

The two of you continue in silence and you try to focus on what you’re doing rather than your suddenly alive daughters.  Your good mood doesn’t last when you recall the destination.  The entrance to the witches bubble.  You’d discussed it and hoped that maybe, if it’s not been popped, you could trap her in it again.  You haven’t breached the topic of killing her instead of risking _another_ repeat.

 

Once you get closer to what Donovan informs you is the city centre you start to notice the scent of blood growing stronger.  You try to ignore it but that soon becomes impossible when you escape from the rubble jungle into the city centre.  Alternia had never had a grand centre, not really, but you remember Prospit, and you assume Derse, had.  You suppose that that’s what was being replicated in what seems like a centre that’s joining the 3 cultures together into one.  You can’t make out the details based the large amount of bodies in the water.  Some have bashed in heads, others had been skewed, some look squashed, a number of more death types could be found but you look away and feel the need to puke.

 

Donovan doesn’t even blink, simply turns to swim away.

 

“We have to do something.”  You say, mumbling.

 

“Like wvhat, exactly, Silas?”  He rolls his eyes.

 

“I don’t know, but we have to do something.”  You say.

 

“They’re just mermaids, they aint anyone special and they aint wvorth riskin’ our tails.”  He claims and you clench your fists.

 

“How could you say that?  They’re your people!”  You snap.

 

“Yeah, and once wve’vwe beaten the wvitch wve can deal wvith ‘em.”  He says calmly.  “Until then they don’t mean nothin’.  Its obvwiously a trap anywvay, howv else wvould all the bodies still be ‘ere after that storm.”  He adds, starting to swim away.  You hate it when he’s right, but you’re not going to let him have the last word.  You open your mouth to respond only to freeze.  In a second the scent of the multiple blood colours coming from the bodies in the centre vanishes and someone else replaces it.

 

There’s no possible way.

 

You see Donovan freeze but only just before you turn towards the still standing building that is clearly the castle. 

 

Before you can swim off Donovan grabs your hand.

 

“Calm dowvn Sil.”  He says firmly.  You turn and glare at him at the nickname.

 

“Let go of me Donovan.”  You growl, trying to take your arm from him.  “That’s red blood.  I have to go to my son.” 

 

“Use ya head ovwer ya heart for once in ya life.”  He snaps.  “Wvhy the ‘ell wvould the scent be so clear and defined wvhen theres ‘eaps a other blood in the wvater?  _It’s a trap_.”

 

“I don’t care.”  You glare at him.  “Karkat is the only other red blooded mermaid that’s in the water, a trap or not my son it being hurt.”  After all Karkat was missing, Karkat was in the water, who else could it be?

 

“Ya son aint the only one.”  Donovan says firmly.  “There’s a Strider kid wvith red blood.”

 

“Then there’s still a boy getting hurt that we need to help!”  You shot.

 

“’Owv, exactly, are wve gonna help?  Wve aint mean shit to ‘er and ya fuckin’ knowv it or wve wvouldn’t be ‘ere right nowv searchin’ fa the easy wvay to get rid of ‘er.  Wve go in and evweryone ends up dead and she gets the crowvn.”  He’s right, of course, but it still takes you a moment to calm down. 

 

“The second we find that bubble intact we need to go after her.”  You eventually say.

 

“No shit.”  He replies before you make a gesture and he leads the way, around the dead bodies.  No matter how far you are from the source the scent of red blood never leaves.

 

* * *

 

 

There’s nothing special about the cave you enter until you get deep enough to find one of few bubbles that even non doom mermaids could enter and the only bubble that even a doom mermaid could not open, with the exception of a few strong ones.  Namely the Captors.  You approach the bubble, taking a few steading breaths. 

 

You had tried to tell yourself not to get your hopes up but you’re only lying to yourself when you say you didn’t.  

 

Simon could be in that bubble.  No one else could have gotten the witch out but the Captors and Simon could be in that bubble.

 

“Dad!”  A voice calls so instead of checking the bubble you turn and find Karkat at the cave’s entrance, legs kicking but gills opened.  With a flick of your tail you’re close enough to pull him into your hold. 

 

“Karkat, my boy, my precious boy you’re alright.”  You mumble, holding him as tight as possible. 

 

“I’m sorry, fuck, I didn’t think, I shouldn’t’ve run away.”  He mumbles, holding you back and you can’t keep the smile off your face, you don’t even try to.

 

“You shouldn’t’ve, but I also made many mistakes and I’m sorry.”  You tell him.

 

“You fucking should be.”  He grumbles and you laugh lightly.  When you pull away you notice Donovan has his hands full with a fuchsia tailed girl and a violet tailed boy.  You see Sollux an arm’s length away and you yank him into the hug, causing him to yelp.

 

“You, Sollux, also lied I’ve heard.”  You tell him.

 

“Your lie topth mine.”  He says, though he hugs you back.

 

“You told me that Mituna was with you.”  You present his lie.

 

“You told uth you and Dad were ‘jutht friendth’.”  He states, pulling away enough to smirk at you.  You tense a moment, eyes wide as you stare at him.  Karkat breaks from your hold as well, frowning.

 

“What?”  He asks, looking from Sollux to you.

 

“How did you find out?”  You ask.

 

“I wath in a coma for a couple dayth and met mum in the dreambubbleth.”  Sollux shrugs.

 

“You… you met your mother?”  You ask, voice quiet. 

 

“Yeah.   And thhe thayth to make up and make out.”  Sollux says.  “Her words, not mine.  Trutht me I would have never said that.”  He adds, making a face.

 

“Okay, _fucking_ _seriously_.”  Karkat shouts.  “Will someone please fucking explain something to me?  I’ll take fucking _anything_ at this point.”

 

“Biologically, we’re half brotherth.”  Sollux tells him, back to smirking.

 

“That’s not explaining things, that’s more confusing bullshit I don’t need right now.”  Karkat growls.

 

“He’s telling the truth Karkat.”  You sigh.  “Sollux is my son just as much as you are.”  You say, running a hand through your hair.  How are you meant to explain this to your son?  Donovan chuckles behind you.

 

“’Avwin’ fun there Silli?”  He mocks.

 

“Shut it or I will shove your tongue so far down your thought you taste the crap you’re full of.”  You snap before turning back to your boys and finding them staring wide eyed at you.  You suppose they’ve never considered you acting like that.

 

“Uh…”  Karkat says, looking between you and Donovan.  “Who’s that?”

 

“This is Donovan, he’s Cronus’ father.”  You introduce.

 

“You’re Silas right?”  The boy with the violet tail asks you.

 

“Yes I am.”  You smile back.  “Who are you?”

 

“This is my youngest, Eridan."  Donovan introduces for him.  “And this is Feferi.”  He adds, gesturing to the girl.  He doesn’t specify her parent but he doesn’t need to.

 

“Is wonderful to meet you both.”  You smile at them both before taking another look around.  “Where is Cronus?  Kankri said he was with you two.”  You ask, talking to your sons.  The room goes silent. 

 

“We tried to stop him, honest.”  Feferi starts.

 

“Stop him?”  Donovan frowns.

 

“He smelt blood in the water.”  Karkat mumbles.  “He, fuck, he said it as Kankri’s.  It couldn’t, it couldn’t actually _be_ Kankri’s, could it?”  You freeze the second you hear the name.

 

You can still smell the red blood on the water.

 

“’Owv wvould ‘e ‘awve been able ta tell?”  Donovan asks, tense.

 

“Because they’re matesprites.”  Eridan huffs.  “He had a matesprite and he didn’t evvwn tell me.  He wwas _alivve_ and he didn’t even tell me!”  He complains to his father but Donovan isn’t listening.

 

“They’re _wvhat?!_ ”  He snaps and you so want to rile him up more but you can’t because your son is currently being tortured by the cruellest beast in the sea and you aren’t there helping.

 

Sollux grabs your hand and you look down at that and then to him, frowning.

 

“Pa.”  He hasn’t called you that since he could barely talk.  “I know you want to thave Kan and all, and I do too, but dad’th in the dream bubble.”  He says, gesturing to the bubble you’d came to see.  “I think I can pop it, but I think it might be better if you’re here.  It’th been yearth, Kk and I look a lot different.”  Your son needs you, but that makes two of them.  You take a deep breath. 

 

“Are you sure you can pop it?”  You ask.

 

“Yeah.”  He nods and you make up your mind.  Cronus is going after Kankri and you can join him after.  You swim towards the bubble and, after another moment, you slip inside.

 

You were not aware the witch had control over the appearance of her bubble, but what was once apparently empty space is now a dark room with a Simon chained up in the corner.  You swim to him quickly.  He’s bruised and a tad bloodied, he’s too skinny and too fagile looking and its heart breaking.

 

“Simon.”  You breathe, stopping an arm’s reach away from him.

 

“Thilath?”  He calls.  “Pleathe tell me you haven’t joined the doomed.”  He whimpers softly and you feel your heart break a little more. 

 

“No, Simon I’m right in front of you.  I’m alive.”  You assure him, he looks up and his eyes are a cloudy yellow colour instead of their usual red and blue.

 

“Then I’m hallucinating again.  At leatht theth gone, thhe alwayth got mad when thith happened.”  He whimpers again, and you know he’s trying not to.  You rub your arms around him.

 

“It’s not a hallucination, I’m right here Simon, I’m alive.”  You promise.  “You’re alive.  We’re both alive.”

 

“Dithy’th not.”  He says, soft and quiet.  “Dithy’th not alive and you look at me and think of all our time together and you hate it.  I know you do becauthe thatth what I remember when I looked at you, but I can’t anymore, I can’t _thee_ anymore Thilath.”  He lets out a sob.  “I can’t thee, I’ve thpent god knowth how long in here with her, thhe took Mituna, you won’t even be with me again becauthe you can’t get over her death, and can’t get over the fear of me almotht dying and all thith thhit jutht proveth you were right all along.”  He sobs around his words, burying his head in your neck.  “And I thtill tho dethperately want you to be real.”

 

“I’m real Simon.”  You say softly.  “And you’re right, it proves I was right, but it also proves I handled it wrong, that nothing I did stopped it.  And yes, at first I thought you vanishing was proof we were better off apart but if anything it hurt more knowing the last time I saw you I didn’t tell you I love you, didn’t kiss you.  That’s changing now.”  You promise.  “It’s going to be okay now.”  You kiss his forehead softly. 

 

“Kith me properally Thilath, pleathe.”  He murmurs and so you do.  It’s more of a peck on the lips than a kiss but it happens and he smiles.

 

“It’th real.”  He murmurs.  “The fake yours never kissed me when I asked.”  You smile softly and just pull him closer.  There’s a sensation like popping an air bubble in your ear but then his hands drop and he holds you back, clings to you.  You’re still smiling.  You shouldn’t be happy, your son is being tortured and the scent hits you like a slap on the face the second you’ve returned from the bubble.  But you have your husband back and you are so happy.


	22. Homely Green

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not my favourite chapter but hopefully its okay ^^

You would have thought that the whole mermaid saviour thing was the biggest secret your family had but no.  Apparently that was only the tip of the very fucking huge secret iceberg that you, for some reason, never knew about.  Other parts of said iceberg include your father’s secret hate-boyfriend, who happens to be Cronus’ father and a god damn king, and the fact that Simon was your father, _is_ your father, that you and Sollux are actually fucking related, by blood.

 

Magic is also something you consider a family secret.  Especially the part where people can apparently talk to their dead not-biological mothers and then blew that off like it wouldn’t fucking destroy a normal brain.

 

Have you mentioned that no one this far has actually decided to fucking explain that to you?  No one.  Not a single soul has sat you down and _explained_ anything.

 

For the first time in your life you long for your past you, the you that just had to worry about staying out of the water while you slowly fall in love with a mermaid.  It’s something you wouldn’t admit to yourself if not for the fact that you are still livid, pissed and upset and waiting to go back to a time when you knew that John was at least alive.  Now he could have been killed days ago and you’d have no idea. 

 

You sigh and just sit sulking in your corner, despite noticing.

 

“Ya knoww, ya just found not one but _twwo_ of ya dads.  Ya should be fuckin’ thrilled, not sulkin’.”  Correction, only Eridan has noticed you.

 

“Yeah, two dads.  One of which I didn’t even fucking know was my dad, both who’ve been lying to me like the asswipes they are, all my fucking life.  Which fits pretty fucking well in the clusterfuck of a sham that my old life was, but I still reserve the right to be fucking bitter as fuck over it.”  You complain to him.  “Shouldn’t you be fucking thrilled to see your dad?”

 

“Wwell mine lied to me about my brother bein’ dead so I’m also kinda bitter noww the ‘yay you’re alivve’ shits ovver.”  He shrugs and sits, the best a mermaid can, next to you.

 

“Clearly parent’s fucking suck.”  You say, mumbling a bit.

 

“Well Karkat’s not going to take the rest of it too well.”   A familiar voice teases and you look up to find Porrim entering the cave.  _Fucking Porrim._

 

“You know what?  I don’t even fucking care anymore!”  You shut, pissed and bitter and so done with this family shit.

 

You just want Kankri to be okay.

 

“Good to see you too Kitkat.”  She laughs.

 

“Porrim!”  Your dad frowns.  “What are you doing here?  You’re meant to be watching the girls.”

 

“I am.  I’m watching them sneak out so that they can meet up with you.”  Porrim hums.

 

“I’m not even going to fucking ask.”  You decide as you watch to mermaids with homely green tails appear and complain to her, one with words the other with hand signs.  You see Uncle Si- Pa(?) frown.

 

“Is that…?”  He asks, barely speaking above a whisper.  You still aren’t sure how to process him being blind. 

 

“Yes.”  Dad smiles and the elder looking of the two girls wrap their arms around Si-, fucking, _Pa._

 

“Hi Pa!”  The younger translates for the hand motions the elder makes.

 

“For fuck’s sake!”  You scream.  You are so done with this.

 

“Karkat, calm down.”  Dad instructs you but you don’t even care anymore, not about the people that might hear you and kill you at least.  You think you hear the younger of the two mermaids whisper your name.

 

“No!  No, fuck you Dad, fuck you and everyone because this is fucking _ridiculous_.”  You snap.  “What else aren’t you telling me?  Huh?  I mean, fucking really?  I don’t think anything you’ve said to me is true at this point.” 

 

“Calm down KK.”  Sollux sighs but you ignore him.

 

“You’re Karkat?”  The younger mermaid attracts your attention.

 

“What’s it to you?”  You snap, not caring that she’s a stranger that doesn’t deserve the brute force of your anger.

 

“I’m Nepeta.”  The girl frowns.  “Don’t you know who I am?”  She asks.

 

“No he doesn’t.”  Dad sighs.  “I thought you were dead Nep, I didn’t think it was the right time yet.”

 

“Nepeta?”  Simon asks, probably stopping an argument before it started.  Nepeta goes over and hugs him. 

 

“Hi Pa.”  She says quietly, whispering as if scared speaking too loud would shatter the moment.

 

“Porrim I told you to watch them at the other cave.”  Dad frowns to Porrim. 

 

“When does anyone listen to you Silli?”  Porrim hums and you hear the other man, Donovan, chuckle.  “Now, Nepeta and Meulin its time for you to meet Sollux and Karkat.”  She decides.  “Would you like to do the honours Sil?”  She asks almost teasingly

 

“I know who they are.”  Sollux says and you think it’s completely unhelpful.

 

“Well, isn’t that fucking great for you.”  You snap.

 

“Geez Kar.  Calm dowwn.”  Eridan rolls his eyes.

 

“Thtay out of it.”  Sollux glares back.  He’s been pissed ever since he found out Eridan lied about not finding _Pa_ and Mituna.  You think that reason alone is a good enough one to prove he shouldn’t have any say in your current emotions.

 

“ _Anyway_.”  Porrim says, gaining everyone’s attention.  “Silas?”  She promotes and your dad takes a deep breath, running a hand through his hair.

 

“Karkat, Sollux, this is Meulin and Nepeta.  They’re your sisters.”  He says before taking another deep breath.  “Karkat, Nepeta is your twin.”

 

“ _My what?!_ ”  You scream to the point Simon wincing. 

 

“Calm down son.”  Silas says but you ignore him like you have everyone else.

 

“I will not fucking calm down!”  You shout, taking a deep breath to prepare yourself for your rant.

 

“Gee Sils, great job ya did wvith ya run awvay and protect ‘em plan.”  Donovan beats you to it.

 

“Not the time.”  Dad says through clenched teeth.

 

“Not the time for wvhat?  To tell ya that ya should’a listened to me wvhen I said to stay?”  He mocks.

 

“I was the one who turned out right Donovan.”  Your dad actually fucking _growls_.  “She’s back and your new kingdom fell in an instant.  At least almost all my children are well and within my sight now, as well as my matesprite.  Your fellow kings are MIA, your people are scattered.” 

 

“I am not about to play fuckin’ authpice between you two tho cool it.”  Simon- _Pa_ , orders them both.  “You both had your planth, neither wath perfect and we went with Thilath’.  We can’t change that now.  Jutht accept it and move on.  You too Karkat.  But at leatht I promithe I’ll explain everything when we get home, thafe and thound.”  He says.  It calms your father down and the other man hesitantly does the same.  You hesitate before nodding at him. 

 

“We have to save Kankri.”  Your father says.

 

“We have to get rid of Condy.”  Donovan talks over him.

 

“We have to do _both_.”  Simon stresses.  “And apparently our kidth are ath bad ath uth tho I gueth nothing’th going to thtop them from coming along.”  You know if he could he’d be looking over all of you.

 

“Got that right popth.”  Sollux grins.

 

“I’m coming!”  Nepeta cheers.  Meulin signs something that you don’t understand.  “So is Meulin.”

 

“Wwell duh.”  Eridan rolls his eyes.

 

“I want to kelp!”  Feferi smiles. 

 

“Fucking obviously.”  You mumble.

 

“Cathe and point.”  Simon says.  “Tho letth thtop with all thith thhit and go get her.  Path me the crown.”

 

“The crown?”  You frown.

 

“Mum told me about that.”  Sollux says, talking quietly and fast.

 

“No.”  Dad says, shaking his head.  “Simon your abilities are already taking affect and I won’t give you the crown and watch you pull yourself apart for this.” 

 

“What elthe are we going to do?”  _Pa_ snapped.

 

“I could do it.”  Sollux speaks up and the both of them freeze.

 

“No.”  They both say in unison.  Dad sighs and the room is quiet.

 

“Maybe we try this without the crown.”  Dad says.

 

“Are you crazy?”  Donovan growls.  “It’s the wvhole reason wve wvent on this fuckin’ detour!” 

 

“We’ll bring it as a last resort.”  Dad says, taking deep breaths in the water.  “For now let’s try this as group.  We have a much larger group then last time.”

 

“Last time we had an army.”  Donovan counters.

 

“And yet only, what, five of uth fought the witch.”  Pa retorks.  “And you of all people don’t care that they’re jutht kidth.” 

 

“Fine.  But we pull out the crown the second we need to.”  Donovan decides.

 

“Fine.”  Dad says.  Finally, _finally_ , he turns to you.  “We are about to walk into battle.”  He says, and you think it’s a bit dramatic.  “I am not asking any of you to come, and I would much prefer it if none of you did but Simon is right, if you want to come you’re bound to follow so if you must you may join us.”

 

“Do you even need to add that?  Let’s just go.”  Porrim smiles. 

 

“If they come they’re gonna need tails.”  Donovan says, gesturing to you and Sollux.

 

“Tails?”  You frown, looking at your wrinkly, ridiculously pale legs.  How long have you been down here?

 

“No.  I don’t want them to have to go through the process of losing them again.”  You dad frowns.

 

“Then let ‘em stay ‘ere afta.  The point is they’re useless wvith legs. They’ll slowv us down and get ‘urt.”  Donovan rolls his eyes.

 

“It’th our choice anyway dad.”  Sollux says.  “Thomeone hand me thomething thhrap.”  Everyone hesitates before Eridan hands over the knife that Cronus had given him before the elder left.  “Come on KK, let’th get thome privacy for thith.”  He says, gesturing to you to follow as he leaves the caves and moves out of sight of the opening before removing his pants.

 

“You’re shaking.”  You comment with a frown as you watch him.

 

“Not thhit.”  He mumbles.  “Mum told me how you get legth when you have a tail.  It’th not exactly thomething I’m gonna look forward to.  But we have to do thith, right?” 

 

“Right.”  You nod.  He finishes losing the clothes below the waist and nips his leg.  You hear him wince and the legs quickly force themselves together.  His tail forms in seconds, a mix of bright red and blue scales.  He passes you the knife.  You take a deep breath and do what he did.

 

Your tail is bright red and it feels… right?  You aren’t sure that’s the right word for it.  You move and everything is easy.  Sollux takes the knife back and you head into the cave.  You’re not sure you want to see the look your father gives you.  Everyone stares at Sollux’s tail, confused.

 

“Can we go save my fucking brother now?”  You say.  The adults lead the way, your dad helping pa, followed by everyone else.  You hesitate at the cave, staring at your tail for a while.

 

You don’t understand what’s going on still.  Frankly you think you’re in shock.  You don’t know what’s about to happen.  You don’t know who’s already dead.

 

With a deep breath you turn away and swim to follow the group, getting the hang of your tail almost instantly. 

 

You might be more confused then you’ve ever been in your life but right now, that doesn’t matter.  What matters is getting rid of this witch, whoever she is, and saving your brother.


End file.
